Ithaca's Kathryn Campbell took a pass from Jacqueline Shinall and knocked down a three-pointer from the wing as time expired, giving the Bombers a thrilling 82-80 win over the St. Lawrence women's basketball team on Friday night at the Burkman Gymnasium. The clutch shot capped a great back-and-forth game, with St. Lawrence junior Casey Capello scoring a career and game-high 29 points.

The victory moves the Bombers to 3-3 on the young season, while the Saints suffer their first loss of 2010-11 and fall to 4-1.

"We answered every time we needed to, but so did Ithaca, which played an outstanding game," said St. Lawrence head coach Dan Roiger. "We had too many missed opportunities in the first half and played poor defense, which ultimately cost us the game as much as the last-second shot."

The visitors opened the contest in style and built a 10 point lead nearly six minutes into the half, 17-7. The Saints chipped away with solid offensive possessions and by causing Ithaca turnovers, and managed to take their first lead of the game with 6:23 remaining, 29-28, on a three pointer by Capello.

Ithaca recaptured the lead, 39-35, behind the play of Jennifer Escobido, who led the Bombers with 11 first half points. However, free throws by Capello and rookie Kelly Legg evened the scoring at 39-39 before junior Katie Edgerton hit a wide open jump shot with five seconds left in the half to give the Saints a narrow 41-39 lead at intermission.

The see-saw affair continued throughout the second half, with neither team building a lead larger than five points. With the game tied at 75-75 with 1:26 to go, Ithaca's Devin Shea hit two free throws for a two-point cushion. After Spera followed by shooting 1-of-2 foul shots to cut the lead to one, Capello put the Saints ahead 78-77 with 40 seconds to play.

Shea again answered for Ithaca with a lay-up with 19 seconds to go, but Capello hit back-to-back clutch free throws to put the Scarlet and Brown ahead 80-79 with a mere 6.8 seconds showing on the game clock. Ithaca took the ball out on the far sideline and Shinall drove to the lane and forced a double team at the free throw line. The double team opened up Campbell in front of the Ithaca bench. The rookie delivered with a last-second dagger that gave the Bombers the 82-80 victory.

Capello's 29 points led all scorers, while Spera added 13 points and eight rebounds. Meanwhile, the Bombers had five players in double digits, led by Escobido's 17 points and nine rebounds. Ithaca was 21-of-24 from the free throw line, including a perfect 12-for-12 mark in the second half. The Saints were 18-for-25 from the charity stripe.

St. Lawrence will look to rebound from its first loss tomorrow, Saturday, December 4 when the team faces Elmira College at 2:00pm in the Burkman Gymnasium.