Wins for Fisher, Houghton and Ithaca
ST. JOHN FISHER 63, William Smith 47
The St. John Fisher College women's basketball team advances to the semifinal round of the 49th annual Wendy's College Classic after a 63-47 win over visiting William Smith College on Tuesday.
No. 5 seeded Fisher (4-1) will face University of Rochester at 6 p.m. Thursday at host Rochester Institute of Technology. The Yellowjackets topped the College at Brockport 81-73 on Tuesday, as well.
With the win, the Cardinals are now 4-1, while the Herons are still in search of their first win at 0-4.
Fisher jumped out to an early 11-0 lead within the first three minutes with points from four different Cardinals.
Chloe Hayter got No. 4 seed William Smith going with a 3-pointer and the Herons recorded an 11-5 run through the 11:37 mark, where it was a five-point game.
The Cardinals were slowed down by six personal fouls through the end of the first half, helping the Herons earn five points on free throws.
Despite their fast start, the Cardinals had just a two-point lead at the half, 27-25.
Mary Kate Cusack scored nine points to open the second half, as Fisher once again took an early lead.
Throughout the second half, the Cardinals shot 44.8% from the field, on their way to reach their biggest lead at 61-39 with 3:21 remaining.
Cusack tallied a team-best 18 points with four steals, while
Portia Velasco added 15 points and a career-high seven steals.
Sydney Bloomstein added nine points with team-leading numbers in boards (9) and assists (5).
HOUGHTON 65, Oswego 58
The Highlander Women's Basketball team came up big against the Lakers of SUNY Oswego, claiming the 65-58 victory.
Oswego took the initiative to score early and often, however, in the end Houghton was able to go the distance. While the Lakers managed to score the first basket of the game, it was just under a minute later when
Maisie Pipher (Lowman, NY, Twin Tiers Christian) answered back for the Highlanders. It took Oswego three minutes to gain a 8-2 lead over Houghton. A layup by
Hannah Fink (Coudersport, PA, Coudersport HS) and a free throw by Pipher allowed for the Highlanders to minimize the gap.
While Oswego continued to push forward to 13 points, Houghton stayed on their heels with the help of a layup by Pipher, jumper by Fink, and 3-point shot by
Hannah Manwaring (Barton, NY, Tioga Central HS). With 11:40 left in the first half, the Highlanders were trailing a close 13-12.
The Lakers soon took a short-lived 15-12 lead. It was 15 seconds later when another Manwaring 3-point shot started tied the game and started a rally. Soon after Houghton found themselves with an 18-17 lead, Oswego managed to have a rally of their own, scoring 7 in a row. Down by 6 with nearly 4 minutes left in the first period, three different Highlanders each contributed a layup to make it a 1 point deficit, 24-25.
With 43 seconds left in the period, Houghton tied the game 26-26. Two free throws by Fink put the Highlanders over the top, closing out the half with a 2 point lead.
Houghton continued their scoring spree, only minimally interrupted by the Lakers. Yet another successful Manwaring 3-pointer, as well as a layup by
Grace Bealor (Haddonfield, NJ, Haddonfield, HS) helped give the Highlanders a 35-28 lead.
The two teams continued to take turns on scoring; it was a consecutive layup and free throw by Pipher that broke the pattern. Bealor's layup gave the Highlanders an 11 point lead.
Up 44-33 with 13:40 left in the game, Pipher was responsible for 4 of the 6 Houghton points to follow. Oswego continued to inch up to a 50-44 trail. Manwaring claimed her fourth and final 3-point shot of the day, setting the tone for the remainder of the game.
Christel Enriquez-Fisher (Colorado Springs, CO, William Mitchell HS) took matters into her own hands by scoring the remainder of Houghton's points all on her own. 3 layups and 6 free throws later, Houghton earned the 65-58 win.
Both Pipher and Enriquez tied to lead Houghton's offensive game with 16 points each. Manwaring trailed with 12 points, and Fink with 10 points. Pipher went 4-5 at the free throw line, while Enriquez went 6-7 at the line. Defensively, Pipher had an impressive 4 blocks and 3 steals.
ITHACA 64, Cortland 61
The Ithaca College women's basketball team dealt SUNY Cortland its first loss of the season with a 64-61 victory in Corey Gymnasium on Tuesday evening. Ithaca and Cortland are now both 4-1 on the season.
The Bombers fell behind Cortland, 10-0, over the first 5:07 of the contest before they could get on the board. Sophomore
Ali Ricchiuti ended the Red Dragons' run with a layup at the 14:38 mark and Ithaca began to chip away at the deficit.
Baskets from freshman
Jordan Beers and sophomore
Erin Ferguson brought Ithaca to within six on two different occasions in a 41-second span, but Cortland answered with a three-pointer to go up by nine at 15-6 with 12:46 left in the half. After a lay-in from freshman
Erin Woop made the score 15-8, Beers scored nine of Ithaca's next 11 points on a trifecta of three-pointers to knot the game up at 19-19 with 9:08 to go.
Cortland regained the lead after nearly a five-minute drought for both teams, and stayed ahead until Ferguson gave the Bombers their first lead of the game, 26-25, with 1:19 on the clock. The Red Dragons would go back on top, 27-26, with just three seconds left before halftime.
Beers scored 11 of her career-high 16 points in the first half on 4-for-8 shooting – 3-for-7 from distance.
Cortland opened the second half with a quick basket just 14 seconds in, but Ricchiuti came right down the floor and nailed a three to tie the game up at 29-29. She then gave Ithaca a 31-29 edge after a steal by senior
Ally Mnich, but back-to-back threes from the Red Dragons put Cortland back up by four at 35-31.
Mnich would cut the lead in half on a jumper with 17:26 left in the contest, and then Ricchiuti drilled another shot from long range to put Ithaca back up by one, 36-35, less than a minute later. The Red Dragons tallied the next four points in a two-minute stretch, but Ithaca answered with a 9-0 to build a six-point cushion, 45-39, with 11:56 to go, and never looked back.
During the run, Ricchiuti netted five of her 16 second half points, while Beers and sophomore Erin Steele both put in a basket.
Ricchiuti finished the night with a team-high 18 points on 7-for-11 shooting and 3-for-6 from three-point range.
Cortland was able to get back to within a point with 5:21 remaining, but Ithaca put the game away with five made free throws, a three-pointer from Steele and a layup by senior
Francesca Cotrupe. The Red Dragons hit a 30-foot shot as the buzzer sounded to account for the 64-61 final tally.
Ferguson contributed eight points (4-for-5) and seven rebounds in the win, while Steele grabbed a team-best 10 rebounds to go along with five points and three assists. Woop chipped in six points, five assists, three steals and two rebounds. Cotrupe snagged six rebounds with two assists, and Mnich finished with five points, two assists, two rebounds and two steals. Seniors
Geena Brady and
Samantha Klie each added two points.
Ithaca went 24-for-58 (41.4-percent) from the field, 7-for-25 from three-point range and 9-for-12 at the line. Cortland shot at a similar rate – 24-for-62 (38.7-percent), 8-for-24 and 5-for-8.
Oneonta 57, HARTWICK 42
Geneseo 62, NAZARETH 55
Fredonia 95, ALFRED 54