Elmira Pushes Past Alfred; Ithaca Rolls by Utica
Elmira 62, Alfred 53
Maria Thannhauser ’14 pumped in a game-high 18 points as the EC Women’s Basketball team picked up a critical, 62-53, conference victory against host Alfred University Tuesday evening. The win improves the Soaring Eagles to 5-7 overall and 1-2 in Empire 8 play, while the loss drops the Saxons to 4-8 overall and 0-4 in conference competition.
Alfred got out to a quick 8-3 lead five minutes into the contest. However, over the next 13:30 EC outscored the Saxons 26-13 taking an eight-point lead late in the opening half. The Purple and Gold would take a 29-23 advantage into intermission. EC had a 12-2 points in the paint advantage, while Alfred held a 13-7 edge in bench points.
The Soaring Eagles used a 23-10 spurt out of intermission to extend its lead to 52-33 with 8:05 remaining in the contest. The Saxons responded with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes but would get no closer than 12 the remainder of the contest until they cut the deficit to the final score of nine with a late three-pointer.
Thannhauser paced the Soaring Eagles with 18 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists in 31 minutes. She shot 6-for-12 from the field and 3-for-6 from long distance. Jessica Zoltowski ’14 finished with 14 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Meanwhile, Liz Forrest ’14 had 11 points, 10 of which came after intermission. Karli Pochkar ’16
had a break out performance finishing with career highs of six points and eight rebounds. Seven of Pochkar’s eight boards came on the offensive glass.
Heather Hebert and Harley Cleary led the Saxon attack with 13 and 10 points, respectively. The Soaring Eagles dominated in the rebounding department 44-30, including hauling in 23 offensive boards. EC had just 14 turnovers compared to 22 empty possessions for the hosts.
Ithaca, Utica 35
The Ithaca College women's basketball team (11-1, 4-0 Empire 8) powered to a 55-35 victory over host Utica (7-7, 3-2 Empire 8) Tuesday night at the Clark Athletic Center.
Holding the host squad to just 14 first-half points, Ithaca built upon a 23-14 lead at intermission to claim its six straight victory while remaining atop the Empire 8 standings.
The Bombers, who held the Pioneers to a season-low 35 points, committed just 10 turnovers during the action, while forcing 17 Utica turnovers. Ithaca shot 34.4 percent from the floor to the Pioneers' 25 percent.
Junior
Mary Kate Tierney (Rochester, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy) netted a career- and game-high 18 points, while adding six rebounds, a game-best four blocks and a trio of assists. Classmate
Elisabeth Wentlent (Greene/Greene) pulled down a career-best nine rebounds to pace the Bombers on the boards. She added a career-best six steals and chipped in seven points. Junior
Kathryn Campbell (Wall, N.J./Wall) scored 11 points.
The Pioneers scored the game's first bucket off the opening tip, but a Wentlent three-pointer would secure the Bomber lead indefinitely just 40 seconds into play. Ithaca ran away with the score, holding a 12-2 gap at the 14-minute mark. Utica twice brought the game within four, but a 6-1 run closed out the half in Ithaca's favor, 23-14.
The Blue & Gold maintained its edge into the second stint. The Pioneers cut their 14-point deficit to nine at 9:09, but The Bombers responded with eight unanswered en route to the 20-point rout.
Utica held a 42-37 gap in rebounds.