Nazareth Rallies; Hartwick, Ithaca and Stevens Win
Nazareth 54, Utica 53 (
Box Score)
Sophomore
Lindsey Kelly connected on her game-winning shot just before the buzzer expired to lift host Nazareth to a 54-53 victory over Utica in an Empire 8 women's basketball game on Friday evening. Kelly finished with a game-high 20 points on 10-14 shooting from the field.
With the victory, the Golden Flyers improve to 6-8 overall and 2-3 in Empire 8 games. Following the loss, the Pioneers drop to 5-9 overall and 0-5 in conference contests.
With 2.6 seconds to play in regulation and trailing 53-52, junior
Hannah Runyon passed the ball inbounds from under Utica's basket to Kelly. As the final seconds ticked away, Kelly took a a dribble to the right elbow of the lane and connected with a jumper to complete Nazareth's hard-fought rally. Just prior to Kelly's shot, sophomore
Julia Brew had a shot opportunity that was off the mark and knocked out of play by Utica, which set up Runyon's baseline pass to Kelly.
FULL STORY
Ithaca 62, St. John Fisher 42 (
Box Score)
The Ithaca College women's basketball team (11-4, 4-1 Empire 8) cruised to a 62-42 victory at St. John Fisher (8-6, 1-3 Empire 8) Friday night at Manning & Napier Varsity Gymnasium.
The Bombers held the Cardinals without a field goal over the last five minutes of play to claim their third-straight 20-point victory over an Empire 8 opponent. The game was tight through the first half, but a 10-2 streak closed out the stanza in Ithaca's favor, 28-21. The Bombers did not relinquish its lead in the second.
Ithaca jumped out to a dominant 11-2 lead in the first five minutes of play, but the Cardinals answered with 11 straight for a two-point edge at 9:22. The score bounced back-and-forth five times over the next six minutes. Ithaca closed out action with a seven-point gap at halftime.
Fisher twice snuck within three early in the second, but that's as close as the home squad would get. Ithaca rattled off six unanswered to secure a permanent two-possession advantage. At 5:40, the Bombers claimed a 52-38 lead on a Campbell three pointer, an advantage that grew to 20 before the final buzzer.
Ithaca hit almost half of its shots (49.0 percent), while the Cardinals connected just 26.3 percent. IC also dominated the boards, 45-27.
FULL STORY
Hartwick 72, Alfred 36 (
Box Score)
Hartwick stayed perfect in the Empire 8 Conference on Friday night with a convincing 72-36 rout of Alfred University in a game played at Lambros Arena. The Hawks led from start to finish and dominated in the second half as they did not allow the Saxons to score a basket in the final 14 and a half minutes.
The Hawks would convert 27 of their 65 shots for a shooting percentage of 41.5% for the game. They allowed the Saxons to shoot just 25% (11-of-44), which included a 17.4% (4-for-23) showing in the second half. The Hawks would control the inside as they outscored the Saxons 38-4 in the paint and held a 50-25 edge in rebounds.
FULL STORY
Stevens 69, Houghton 48 (
Box Score)
The Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team picked up a 69-48 victory over Houghton College on Friday evening in Canavan Arena to improve to 9-5 overall on the season. Ten different players for Stevens tallied at least four points in the win.
The Ducks fell behind early in the first half to Houghton (4-10), 10-5, over the opening 4:36, and trailed by as many as nine points, 18-9, midway through the half. After a timeout by Stevens with 10:37 to go, the Ducks notched four quick points to cut the deficit to 18-13. Houghton scored on its next possession to push its lead back out to 20-13, but the momentum would change after an intentional foul was called on the Highlanders with 8:44 remaining.
From that point, Stevens closed out the half on a 21-9 run and went into the break with a 34-29 edge.
As the second half began, the Ducks held Houghton scoreless for the first 6:02 and increased their lead to 48-29 before the Highlanders ended the drought on a three-pointer with 13:58 left in regulation. In all, the run lasted 14:46 of game time and resulted in a 35-9 run for Stevens.
Houghton fought back to within 14 points, 48-34, only to watch Stevens balloon its advantage out to a game-high 25 (61-36) over the next seven-plus minutes. The Highlanders could only get back to within a 17-point difference in the final 6:28, but Stevens held a 20-point cushion for a majority of the final six minutes to come away with the victory.
FULL STORY