Cardinals Build Large Lead in Second Half and Hold On Over Nazareth
The St. John Fisher College women’s basketball team held on to defeat East Ave rival and host Nazareth College 66-57 in a Tuesday night game. With the win the Cardinals improve to 8-10 overall and 4-3 in the Empire 8 Conference while Nazareth falls to 9-8, 2-5.
The Cardinals got out to an early jump in the second half, building a double-digit lead just two and a half minutes into the period. Fisher caused several turnovers early in the half to control the game.
Down the stretch the Cardinals got into some foul trouble, with Meghan Soja, Camaryn Buckner and Sydney Bloomstein, the starting front court, all possessing four personal fouls in the last five minutes of regulation. Buckner was clutch down the stretch from the foul line, finishing the game 12-for-14 from the line. The forward finished with 18 points and five rebounds while the Cardinals were lead by Portia Velasco’s explosive moves to the hoop for a game-high 19 points. Soja finished with a game-high 12 rebounds while missing the double-double by just two points.
In the first half Fisher controlled the lead for the majority, with Nazareth gaining a few short-lived advantages really early and not again until very late in the period. Sarah Stefanon stole a pass with 10 seconds left and was fouled, making 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, sending the Cardinals to the locker rooms with a 34-31 lead.
Velasco was pivotal in the stanza, stealing two passes and going coast-to-coast for layups, leading all scorers at the end of the half with 13 points. Both teams were hot from the three-point line in the first, with the Golden Flyers shooting 50% (4-for-8) and Fisher shooting 43% (3-for-7). Soja finished the first with eight rebounds while Buckner closed out the half with nine points.