Hartwick Knocks Off Nazareth For Sole Possession of 2nd Place
ONEONTA, NY - Nine of 10 players made it into the scoring column as Hartwick's women's basketball team defeated visiting Nazareth by a final score of 66-49 on Saturday afternoon at Lambros Arena. The Hawks, who have now won 12 of their last 13 games, improve to 13-3 overall and 5-1 in the Empire 8.
It marks the first time the Hawks have been 13-3 since the 1995-96 season. Coupled with St. John Fisher's win over Stevens today, Hartwick is now in sole possession of second place in the Empire 8 behind only Ithaca (6-0). The Hawks are also 5-1 in the conference for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
'Wick leading scorer Maria Foglia (Rensselaer, NY/Catholic Central) led all players with 23 points on the day for the hosts. She did much of her damage from the free-throw line with an impressive 13-of-15 (.867) showing. She also had game-high three steals.
Kate Purcell (Buffalo, NY/Mount Mercy Academy) added nine points for 'Wick and Jo Vincents (Vallensbak, Denmark/Kent School) contributed eight. Samantha Fox (Hartwick, NY/Cooperstown) and Lee Arduini (Albany, NY/Academy of the Holy Names) each scored six points. Fox also grabbed a team-best six rebounds.
The two teams traded leads six times in the opening five minutes of the game. A pair of free throws from Foglia would give the Hawks the lead to stay, 11-10, with 15:06 left. After neither team converted for two and a half minutes, Fox sank a jumper with 12:33 left which ignited a 12-4 run over the next four minutes and Hartwick led 23-14.
The Golden Flyers chipped away at the lead and a 7-0 spurt cut the deficit to two points, 23-21, with 4:22 left in the opening half. The Hawks countered with 14 of the final 21 points of the half, led by Foglia's seven points and Vincents' five, to take a 37-28 lead into halftime.
The Hawks' advantage grew to 13 points nine minutes into the second half after a Katrina Caulfield (Palmer, MA/Palmer) bucket, but the Golden Flyers fought back with a 9-3 run over the next five minutes to trim the Hawks' lead to seven, 49-42, with six minutes showing on the clock.
Fox put a stop to the Naz run with a short jumper in the paint for Hartwick and Foglia followed it up back-to-back three-pointers to give 'Wick a 14-point lead, 57-43. The Golden Flyers were able to cut the lead to 10 points, 59-49, but the Hawks would shut them out over the final 2:04. Foglia and Purcell combined for seven free throws in the final stages for the final 66-49 score line.
With the victory, Hartwick improves to 23-24 all-time against the Golden Flyers. The Hawks have won nine of the last 16 meetings between the two programs.