The Bard College women's basketball team was held off by the Ithaca Bombers on Saturday afternoon, 45-71 at Ben Light Gymnasium.

Ava Gregory led the Raptors in scoring and steals, with 10 points and two steals. She added five rebounds. Lexi Miller was on court for the full 40 minutes, collecting a team-high nine rebounds and a team-high three assists to go with a block, a steal, and six points.

Shirley Dong contributed nine points, three rebounds, two steals, a block, and an assist. Morgan Kottka tallied eight points, five rebounds, an assist, and a block. Erin Tobes had eight points and five rebounds. 

Jessica Martin totalled two points, two rebounds, and a steal in 27 minutes. Aislynn Dixon chipped in with two points and four rebounds. 

Bard generated high quality shots and knocked them down in the early going, allowing the Raptors to keep pace with the Bombers, 8-8 midway through the first quarter. However, Ithaca's press wore down Bard, resulting in an 11-2 run by the Bombers to end the period.

In the second quarter, a 7-0 start by Ithaca extended the lead to 16 at 26-10. The Raptors broke the pressure and were able to attack the rim with a numbers advantage, cutting the lead to 12 at 26-14, but the Bombers went into halftime on an 11-6 spurt to make it 37-20. 

Third-quarter action favored Ithaca, 22-9, although Bard prevented the Bombers from scoring in the final 1:57. Ithaca capitalized on nine points off turnovers to build a commanding 30-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

The Raptors were able to get to the free throw line ten times in the final frame, hitting seven from the charity stripe. They also held the Bombers to a frigid 5-of-19 from the field and allowed just 12 points. However, the closest it got was 25 after Gregory and Miller each got one to go on back-to-back trips down the floor to open the quarter.

Bard continues its seven-game road trip on Friday at 5:30 p.m., when they play Skidmore.