ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Juniors Brittany Wilson and Katie Kollar combined to score 46 points to lead host Nazareth to a 61-55 victory in an Empire 8 women's basketball game Friday evening. Kollar's 17 points set a career high as she connected on five of her eight three-point attempts. Wilson's 29 points tied her career-high total from earlier this season at Ithaca.
With the victory, Nazareth evens its overall record at 7-7 and improves to 3-2 in Empire 8 games. Elmira drops to 2-10 overall and remains in search of its first conference victory as its record falls to 0-4.
After the Soaring Eagles' Becca Fritz connected on a jumper to tie the game 51-51 with 2:31 to play in regulation, the Golden Flyers answered with seven straight points to claim the lead for good. Kollar ignited Nazareth's scoring run with her fifth three-point basket of the game. Junior Brittany TallChief and sophomore Jenee Vanderstyne added two free throws apiece to give the Golden Flyers the advantage with one minute to play. After Elmira cut its deficit, Wilson secured the Golden Flyers' victory by converting a three-point play after receiving a perfectly thrown outlet pass from junior Brittany Patenaude. The inbound play gave Nazareth the final 61-55 margin of victory.
With the game tied 43-43 and about six minutes to play in the game, Wilson tallied eight of the next 10 points of the game in a span of 1:20 to give the Golden Flyers 51-45 advantage. Elmira responded with a quick 6-0 scoring run to tie the game and set up Nazareth's crucial scoring run to earn the victory.
Elmira held the lead through most of the first half and had a game-high 10-point lead, 26-16, with 5:06 to play in the first half. The Golden Flyers' trimmed its deficit to six points before the Soaring Eagles settled for a 29-21 lead at halftime.
In addition to the points from Wilson and Kollar, TallChief and Vanderstyne finished with seven points and six points, respectively, and Patenaude chipped in two points. TallChief also had a team-high 12 rebounds while Vanderstyne recorded six assists. The Golden Flyers finished with a 51-38 advantage in total rebounds.
Fretz and Becky Peterman were the leading scorers for Elmira. Fretz tallied 20 points and 12 rebounds while Peterman finished with 17 points. Tesia Kaczynski had a team-high five assists.