Alfred Wins First E8 Game; Elmira, Hartwick and Stevens Claim Victory

1/31/2014 10:18:31 PM

Alfred 75, Utica 66 (Box Score)
The Alfred University women's basketball team handed Utica College a 75-66 loss, on the road, Friday evening in conference play. 
           
Alfred headed into the break ahead of Utica, 36-30, thanks to quick offensive starts from junior guard Harley Cleary, with 10 points, and freshman guard Kathryn Polletta, with eight points.

The Pioneers jumped out to an early 9-0 lead just two minutes into the game. AU answered however with six straight points to pull within three, 9-6, at 17:34. The teams traded baskets over the next six minutes before the Saxons took their first lead of the game, 21-19, close to halfway through the first 20 minutes. Alfred would manage an 18-5 run over the next seven minutes to take its biggest lead of the half, 36-24, with just under four minutes left. UC would respond with a 7-0 push to pull within six points, 36-30, headed into the break.

Utica opened up the second half on a 9-0 run, over the first three minutes, to knot the contest up, 39-39, before Alfred began to regain the lead and momentum. The Saxons, nonetheless, managed another run over the next ten minutes to take a nine point advantage, 61-52, at 10:33 and would hold on for their first league victory of the season.
           
For the game, Utica outrebounded AU, 50-43, but was outshot from the field (40 percent compared to 35 percent), from beyond the arc (52 percent compared to 25 percent), and from the free-throw line (80 percent compared to 59 percent).
        

Elmira 73, Houghton 60 (Box Score)
Three members of the Elmira College women's basketball team finished in double figures as the Soaring Eagles cruised to a 73-60 win over visiting Houghton College.  

The first half of play was a close affair, with both teams square at 15-15 with 10:59 to play.  However, this would be as close as the Highlanders would get for the rest of the half as the Soaring Eagles used an impressive 20-to-8 run to take a 35-23 advantage, which would eventually turn into a 37-28 halftime lead. 

Elmira would control the second half from the start as the Purple and Gold jumped out to a 49-32 lead, much thanks to a 12-4 run to start the half.  During that stretch, five different EC players registered points, including Balara, whose and-one play sparked Elmira's mini-run.

Houghton would never get close to Elmira for the remainder of the half as EC would go up by as many as 20 points en route to a 73-60 victory.  


Hartwick 68, Nazareth 35 (Box Score) 
Hartwick held an opponent to 40 points or less for the third time in the last five games in a 68-35 rout of Nazareth on Friday night at Lambros Arena. In the contest, the Hawks' limited the Golden Flyers to just 18.5% shooting, which was a season-best.

The early going was anything but a one-sided affair as the Golden Flyers jumped out to a 5-0 lead as the Hawks missed their first seven shots in the first three minutes. 'Wick erased the deficit two and half minutes later and the two teams went back and forth through the 12-minute mark. The score was tied at 10-10, but a layup from Emily Stone put the hosts in front and it was all Hartwick from that point. 

A 14-1 run from the Hawks handed them a 24-11 lead and the Hawks never looked back. The Hawks defense limited the Naz offense to just five points, two buckets, and 2-for-18 (11%) over the last 12 minutes of the half.

The Hawks would take a 34-16 lead into the break. Vonasek scored eight for the Hawks in the opening 20 minutes and Dumas added seven points and 13 boards.

A big 14-2 run for Hartwick to begin the second half put the Hawks up 30 points, 48-18, virtually putting the game away. The Hawks led comfortably by 26 points or better for the rest of the game to secure their 15^th win of the season.


Stevens 73, St. John Fisher 61 (Box Score)
Senior Avis Benjamin of the Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team reached 1,000 career points on Friday night in a 73-61 Empire 8 Conference home victory against St. John Fisher College in Canavan Arena.

The contest got off to a peculiar start, as Fisher was awarded a pair of technical foul free throws before the game got under way due to a mechanical malfunction on the backboard. After the pair of made attempts, the Cardinals jumped out to a 6-0 in the first minute before Benjamin put Stevens on the board 45 seconds later.

The Ducks went ahead for good with just over 12 minutes to go and eventually headed into the intermission with a 40-34 lead. 

In the second half, Stevens pushed its lead to a 12-point spread, 49-37, after nearly three minutes burned off the clock on a layup from Benjamin that gave her exactly 1,000 career points. Fisher battled back to a four-point difference, 50-46 and 52-48, with just over 12 minutes left in regulation, but the Ducks would go on a 9-3 run to build their lead back to double-digits over the next four minutes.

Stevens kept its double-digit cushion for the remainder of the game and secured a crucial conference victory. The Ducks put 73 points on the stingiest defense in the Empire 8, surpassing Fisher's per game average points allowed by nearly 21 points.

The Ducks shot 45.9-percent from the field (28-for-61) and held Fisher to 37.1-percent (23-for-62). Stevens also held a plus-six edge on the boards, 42-36, and handed out 20 assists.

SCHOOL	CONF	OVERALL
Hartwick	8-1	15-4
Ithaca	8-1	15-4
Elmira	4-2	12-4
St. John Fisher	5-4	12-7
Stevens	5-4	12-7
Nazareth	2-6	7-11
Alfred	1-6	6-12
Houghton	0-0	6-12
Utica	0-9	5-13
Houghton is an NCAA provisional member and is not eligible for postseason. Games against the Highlanders will not impact conference records/standings.