Cardinals, Ducks and Hawks Soar to Victory
St. John Fisher 44, Medaille 34
The St. John Fisher College women's basketball struggled early but battled back in the second half to defeat Medaille College 44-34 in the Cardinals' home-opener Tuesday night.
After trailing by double digits for the majority of the game, the Cardinals found their groove midway through the second half. Fisher went on a 29-8 run over the game's final 14 minutes to secure the victory.
Sydney Bloomstein provided the Cardinals with their first lead since early in the first half when she banked in a layup with six minutes remaining, giving Fisher the 31-30 advantage.
Despite squandering the lead, the Mavericks remained close until just over two minutes left when
Camaryn Buckner banked in a clutch layup to stretch the Cardinals' lead to five and put the game out of reach.
Buckner finished with her second consecutive double-double, dropping 11 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.
Mary Kate Cusack led all players with 12 points and six steals while
Portia Velasco added 11 points for the Cardinals.
Hartwick 71, Union 55
The Hartwick women's basketball team stayed unbeaten with a big 71-55 non-conference victory over Union College (2-1) Tuesday night at the Viniar Athletic Center in Schenectady, NY. The Hawks improve to 5-0 for the first time in 23 years (1990) and for just the fourth time in the 47-year history of the program.
Maria Foglia poured in a game and career-high 26 points in the victory for the Hawks.
Brittney Dumas added 12 points for 'Wick.
Both teams were tied at 16-16 with 7:58 left in the opening half, but the Hawks would close the stanza on a 21-4 run over the final eight minutes to take a commanding 37-20 lead at the break. Six different Hawks figured into the scoring in the run, led by Foglia's seven points.
Foglia would finish the half with nine points with
Taylor Vonasek, Kait Veit, and Dumas each adding six.
The Hawks had a slim edge in rebounds in the first half, 19-15. They also shot 52% (13-for-25) from the floor while holding the Dutchwomen to 35.7% (10-for-28).
Union started the second half on a 16-6 run to climb back to within seven points, 43-36, with 9:32 elapsed before the Hawks called timeout. Following the break, Foglia drained a three-pointer to make the advantage ten but Madeline Granato came right back on the other end with the trey for the Dutchwomen.
Dumas converted a layup and the Hawks would force a turnover on defense enabling Foglia to find Dumas underneath the basket for a layup and an 11-point edge, 50-39, with 8:26 to go.
After two Union free throws, another Foglia three-pointer extended the margin to 12 with under eight left and a Veit triple on the Hawks' next trip down the floor put 'Wick up 15.
The two teams picked up points on alternating possessions with Foglia scoring on a driving layup and then on another three for 'Wick and the Hawks held a 15-point margin, 61-46, with 4:49 remaining.
Later, Natalie Leone knocked down a three to cut the deficit to 12, but Foglia, once again, answered from downtown. She added a pair from the line to give the Hawks a 67-50 edge with under three to go. Vonasek added a pair from the line with 2:05 showing on the clock for the Hawks' largest lead of the night (19 points) and they would emerge with the win.
Foglia made 7-of-10 from the floor, 4-of-5 from three-point range, and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. She also had four assists. Dumas was 6-of-10 from the floor and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Veit and Vonasek would each finish with nine points.
Kate Purcell contributed eight points.
The Hawks shot just under 50% for the game, making 24 of their 49 shots (49%). They also added a total of nine three-pointers and won the battle on the glass, 30-26. Hartwick would also force the Dutchwomen into 23 turnovers on the night.
Stevens 72, Centenary 50
The Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team improved to 4-1 on the season with a 72-50 victory on the road at Centenary College on Tuesday evening at the John Reeves Center in Hackettstown, N.J.
Freshman
Erica Guketlov paced Stevens with a career-high 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor including a perfect 5-for-5 from three-point range in 29 minutes off the bench. Guketlov also pulled down six rebounds with two assists.
Centenary (2-3) led for the first 3:42 of the contest until sophomore
Dylan Krause drained a three to tie the game up at 7-7. The Ducks earned their first edge of the showdown on the ensuing possession after senior
Avis Benjamin put in a jumper with 15:29 to go in the half.
Krause totaled seven points with six boards, while Benjamin chipped in 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting with six rebounds and two blocked shots.
After ties at 9-9 and 13-13, the Cyclones captured their final lead of the contest midway through the half at 15-13 on a made basket from Mallory George. Stevens then used the first three-ball from Guketlov to take a 16-15 advantage and would go on a 13-7 run to close out the half up, 29-22.
In the second half, the Ducks continued to build on their lead and were up by 19 points with 11:33 remaining in regulation at 47-28 on a layup from senior
Molly Spadaro. Centenary cut its deficit to 16 on a pair of free throws from George at 47-31, but Stevens scored the next 14 points over a 2:52 span to grow its lead to 30 points at 61-31 with just over seven minutes to go.
Spadaro added seven points and six rebounds.
Centenary then went on a 13-0 run to close to within 17 at 61-44, only to watch the Ducks respond with 11 of the final 17 points to close out the victory in the final 3:26.
Stevens shot 46.6 percent from the field (27-for-58) and 58.3 percent from deep (7-for-12). The Ducks also grabbed 46 rebounds and handed out 15 assists. Centenary shot just 26.7 percent overall (16-for-60) in the game and 13.3 percent from three-point range (2-for-15).
Pitt-Bradford 71, Houghton 60
Houghton women's basketball lost on the road to University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, 71-60, Tuesday night.
Stephany Ellison (Whitesville, NY, Whitesville HS) scored 19 points and pulled down seven rebounds to lead the Highlanders, who shot 45 percent from the field.
Maisie Pipher (Lowman, NY, Twin Tiers Christian) added 16 points, pulled down a game-high eight rebounds and blocked three shots.
The Panthers led by as many as nine points in the first half and held a 35-29 lead at the break.
The Panther lead bounced between six and 10 points for most of the second half, before growing to 15 with two minutes remaining.