Hartwick Women Stay Atop Empire 8 Standings
Hartwick 54, Nazareth 36
Hartwick overcame a tough shooting night by playing lockdown defense in a 54-36 win over Nazareth in Empire 8 women’s basketball at Lambros Arena on Saturday night. The Hawks shot only 33% (19-for-57) from the field, but they allowed just a 25% (14-for-56) performance by the visitors while forcing 17 Golden Flyer turnovers in the victory.
With the win, the Hawks are the only unbeaten Empire 8 team at 5-0 and they remain alone in first place. The Hawks are 13-3 overall and winners of six straight games.
Freshman forward Brittney Dumas was big for the Hawks with game-highs of 20 points and nine rebounds. With 4:38 gone in the second half, Dumas (16) had more points than the Golden Flyers (15) after her three-pointer handed the Hawks a 26-15 lead.
Kate Purcell also was in double figures for the Hawks with 14 points. She had eight rebounds, four steals, three assists, and a trio of three-pointers.
The two teams came out cold as they combined to miss their first nine shots of the ball game. After a basket from Maria Allocco finally broke the deadlock at the 16:39 mark, the Hawks would hold the Flyers to without a field goal for the next seven minutes.
Dumas accumulated 11 points and six rebounds in the opening frame with Purcell adding seven points. The Hawks would hold the Flyers to just four field goals out of 21 attempts and 11 turnovers.
A three-point play from Taylor Vonasek gave the Hawks their largest lead, 45-22, with 7:44 remaining in the contest. A 9-3 run for Nazareth cut the deficit to 17 points with 4:30 left on the clock, but the Hawks went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line with a pair each from Dumas, Purcell, and Alicia Razanousky
to close out the victory.
The Blue and White would hit 10 of their 11 shots (91%) from the line in the game. They would also convert 15 points off of Naz’s 17 miscues. The Golden Flyers held a slim edge in rebounds, 41-39.
Nazareth was led by Lindsey Kelly’s 11 points. She tied for a team-high seven boards with Allocco. Shaw was the Golden Flyers’ next highest scorer with six points.
Stevens 58, Houghton 38
The Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team topped Houghton College by 20 points on Saturday to end their Empire 8 homestand with a 58-38 victory. Dylan Krause, Lisa Tessitore and Molly Spadaro led Stevens with 11 points apiece. Stevens moved to 8-7 on the year, while Houghton fell to the same record.
After falling behind 14-10 with 12 minutes to go in the first half, the Ducks did not allow Houghton to score another point in the rest of the period. The half ended on a 22-0 run, with Molly Spadaro leading the way with 11 points, four rebounds and three steals. Stevens also had four blocks and 10 steals as a team and forced a total of 12 Highlander turnovers.
In the second half the two teams traded baskets, but the outcome was never in doubt as the Ducks outscored the visitors 26-24 in the final period.
Maggie Kowalska led all players with 10 rebounds and boasted an efficiency rating of 15…Houghton shot only 22 percent from the floor…Stevens shot 75 percent from the free-throw line…the Highlanders took 23 three-point shots, but only made three of them.
Utica 67, Elmira 51
Three players scored in double digits and the Utica College women's basketball team sunk ten 3-pointers to bury visiting Elmira College, 67-51, Friday night. Senior Meghan Fiore registered her eighth double-double with a team-high 17 points and 13 rebounds.
The game started out slowly on the offensive end, as Utica led just 12-9 at the halfway point of the first frame. However, the Pioneers went on a 9-2 run behind seven points from freshman Racquel Baudanza to take control. UC then got baskets from Fiore, Baudanza, and freshman Mary Miceli to take a 33-19 lead into the locker room.
Elmira opened the second half putting strong pressure on the home team. The Soaring Eagles cut the lead to eight just five minutes into the second stanza, but the Pioneers kicked it up a notch to take a 65-40 lead with under two minutes left to play.
Elmira was able to outscore UC in the final two minutes, but it was not enough as the Pioneers held on for the win. Utica improves to 9-8 overall and 5-2 in the Empire 8, while Elmira drops to 5-11 overall and 1-5 in the conference.
Ithaca 69, Alfred 39
The Ithaca College women's basketball team (14-2, 6-1 Empire 8) overpowered host Alfred (5-11, 0-7 Empire 8), 69-39, on Saturday afternoon.
Ten Bombers tallied points en route to Ithaca's 14th victory of the season. Alfred held Ithaca within striking distance through the first 13 minutes of the game, but Ithaca took a double-digit lead with two minutes lingering in the first half and never looked back.
Alfred made 25 turnovers throughout the game, resulting in 30 Ithaca points. The Bombers hit 13-of-15 from the charity stripe.
The squads exchanged buckets to open action, but a 9-2 run for a 19-11 lead at 9:27 secured the lead indefinitely for the Blue & Gold. The Saxons snuck within two three minutes later, though Ithaca pieced together a 12-1 run to close out the first half with a 31-18 gap.
Ithaca continued to dominate in the second, opening the stint with a 17-4 streak for a 26-point lead at the 13-minute mark. An Elizabeth Conti jumper at 3:25 gave the Bombers their largest lead of the game, 67-36, before finalizing all scoring at 69-39.
Ithaca shot 37.7 percent from the floor to Alfred's 31.4 percent. The Bombers also owned the rebound count, 46-37.