ITHACA, N.Y. – Two members of the Ithaca College women’s basketball team have been named to the Empire 8 all-star team. Sophomore guard
Katherine Bixby (Germantown Friends/Philadelphia, Pa.) was named to the first team and senior center
Erika Steele (Hopkinton/Hopkinton, Mass.) was a second-team choice.
At least one Bomber has earned first-team all-conference honors every year since 1996, a streak nearly three times as long as the second-longest streak by an Empire 8 school.
Bixby led the Bombers in scoring (13.7 ppg), free-throw percentage (80.9 percent), three-point baskets (51), assists (111), steals (49) and three-point field-goal percentage (36.7 percent). Her assist total is the seventh-highest single-season mark by a Bomber. A three-time Empire 8 Player of the Week, Bixby ranked among the conference leaders in assists (third), free-throw percentage (fourth), three-point baskets (fourth), assist/turnover ratio (fourth), three-point field-goal percentage (fourth), scoring (fifth) and steals (sixth). After two years at Ithaca, Bixby already ranks among the program’s career leaders in three-point baskets (seventh with 72) and assists (13th with 175); her 78.4 free-throw percentage is Ithaca’s second-highest all-time mark and her 11.1 ppg scoring average ranks 11th.
Steele is a repeat selection to the all-conference team (she earned first-team honors last year). She averaged 10.8 ppg while leading the team in rebounding (6.7 rpg), blocked shots (37) and field-goal percentage (50.4 percent). She ranked second in the conference in field-goal percentage and also stood among the league leaders in blocked shots (third), rebounding (10th) and scoring (12th).
Steele finishes her Bomber career ranking third on the program’s all-time list in blocked shots (111) and fourth in field-goal percentage (48.8 percent). She’s also in the top 20 in rebounding (14th with 497) and scoring (17th with 771).
The Bombers, 16-10 on the season, finished as the Empire 8 regular-season runner-up and reached the conference playoffs for a fifth straight year.