Purcell Leads Hartwick Past RIT
ROCHESTER, NY - Freshman Kate Purcell (Buffalo, NY/Mount Mercy) led all scorers with 20 points on Saturday as the Hartwick women's basketball team downed RIT (3-9, 1-2 E8) on the road at Clark Gymnasium in Rochester, 66-51. The victory snaps a four-game winless streak for the Hawks and improves their season record to 4-5 and their conference mark to 1-1.
Purcell (pictured) finished the contest making four of her nine shots from the floor including a pair of three-pointers. She also made 10-of-14 from the free-throw line and added seven rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Senior Fritzi Flores (Bergenfield, NJ/Paramus Catholic) contributed 12 points and six rebounds, and freshman Katrina Caulfield (Palmer, MA/Palmer) added 11 points and six boards for Hartwick.
The Hawks and Tigers played through four ties and three lead changes in the first 15 minutes of the game before 'Wick began to pull away. Holding on to a 19-16 edge, the Hawks outscored RIT 10-3 over the final five minutes of the half for a 29-19 lead at intermission. Purcell and Caulfield combined for seven of Hartwick's 10 points in the run.
The Blue and White's advantage swelled to 13 points early in the second half and the team led by a comfortable margin until the midway point of the period. The Tigers trailed 46-35 with 10:30 left, but a 12-2 run put them down by a single point, 48-47, four minutes later.
Following a timeout, freshman Maria Foglia (Rensselaer, NY/Catholic Central) drained a three-pointer with 6:10 remaining to trigger an 18-4 Hartwick run to close the game. A Courtney Tenant layup with four and a half minutes on the clock cut the Tiger deficit to four, 55-51, but the Hawks turned up the defense and shut out the hosts for the remainder of the contest to secure the victory.
The Hawks ended the game with a 42-35 edge in rebounds. They also connected on 20 free throws which was their second-highest total of the season.
Foglia finished the game with seven points and seven rebounds. Junior Samantha Fox (Hartwick, NY/Cooperstown) recorded six points and six rebounds, and freshman Tracey Koch (Glenmont, NY/Bethlehem) added five points and tied for a team-best with seven boards.
RIT's Leslie Havens and Tenant each had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead their team. Kayla Wheeler chipped in eight points and eight boards.