Road Losses for Hartwick, Fisher and Naz
Sage 64, HARTWICK 47
Host Sage outscored Hartwick 37-17 in the second half to pull away for a 64-45 victory in non-conference women's basketball Thursday night at Kahl Gymnasium in Troy. The Gators improve to 5-3 with the victory while the Hawks fall to 1-6 overall.
'Wick held an 11-point, 25-14 lead in the first half with under three and a half minutes before the break. But the Gators would outscore the Hawks 50-20 the rest of the way. Hartwick struggled shooting the basketball in the second half as it made just five field goals (5-for-24).
The night started well for the Hawks, who are coached by
Jackie Craft. The game marked her return to Kahl after piloting the Gators from 2005-2014, a tenure which included last season's Skyline title and an NCAA Tournament berth. After Sage grabbed an early 5-2 lead, back-to-back buckets from junior
Taylor Vonasek (Willington, CT/E.O. Smith) put Hartwick in front for nearly the rest of the half.
A Sage layup cut the deficit to four points, 15-11, with 9:19 left but a 7-1 Hawks' run over the next four minutes would push the advantage to double digits, 22-12. The Hawks' defense forced the Gators into five missed shots with a pair of turnovers in the span. A three-point play from Vonasek with 3:49 left made it 25-14 but a huge 15-4 Sage swing over the next 2:26 would give the Gators the edge, 27-26, with just over a minute to go before halftime.
A Vonasek layup with half a minute remaining gave 'Wick a 28-27 edge heading into the locker room. Sage had no answer for Vonasek in the first half as she scored half of the Hawks' points with 14 and added she added six rebounds.
Sage jumped in front 30 seconds into the second half on a Megan Bowman layup and it never trailed again. After a
Jess Bellai (Schenectady, NY/Schalmont) jumper at 18:19, the Gators scored 10 straight points over the next four and a half minutes to gain a double-digit upper hand, 41-30.
Emily Stone (Granby, CT/Granby) connected on a three-pointer making the score 41-33 with 13:01 showing on the clock but the Hawks would go without a field goal for over five minutes until Stone sank a layup at 7:55 to trim the Gator advantage to 13 points, 50-37. The lead grew to 18 after a Bowman triple at 6:48 and 15 points would be as close as the Hawks would get for the remainder of the night.
Vonasek closed the game with team-highs of 14 points and eight boards. Stone contributed eight points and four rebounds.
Courtney Cirillo (Johnstown, NY/Johnstown),
Anna Hickey (Falmouth, ME/Falmouth), and
Jacqui Foreman (Tolland, CT/Tolland) each scored five points for the Hawks.
Christina Graziadei (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany Central) pulled down six rebounds with Cirillo adding five.
Bowman led all scorers with 20 points. She also dished out eight assists to go along with six rebounds and two steals. Genevieve Schoff was also in double figures with 13 points. She added seven rebounds. Carlee Hirt scored 12 points and Amie Jefferson had a game-high nine boards.
Rochester 88, ST. JOHN FISHER 79
The top-seeded University of Rochester Yellowjackets ran away with a 88-79 victory over No. 5 seed St. John Fisher College Cardinals in the semifinal round of the 49th annual Wendy's College Classic on Thursday evening.
With the loss, Fisher falls to 4-2, while Rochester remains undefeated at 7-0.
Portia Velasco put Fisher on the board with a traditional three-point play and gave Fisher its only lead of the game.
Yellowjackets took off and went on a 16-0 run with help from Ali Zywicki, who downed a trio of 3-pointers. Rochester also held a 33-15 advantage in rebounds at the end of the first half. Zwyicki finished with 19 points, including four from behind the arc.
The Yellowjackets saw their biggest lead just before halftime at 50-28.
Entering the second half, Fisher faced a 21-point deficit. The Cardinals made their way back, getting as close as six points with 49 seconds remaining, but fell 88-79.
Velasco led Fisher with a season-high 27 points, while dishing out five assists and tallying two steals.
Bridget Carney recorded a career-high 18 points with four boards.
Mary Kate Cusack added 19 points to pace the Cardinals' offense.
RIT 71, NAZARETH 63
Sixth-seeded Nazareth fell to seventh-seeded RIT in Thursday's consolation game in the Wendy's Classic. Junior
Lindsey Kelly and senior
Hannah Runyon each finished in double-digits in scoring with 20 points and 13 points, respectively.
Following the loss, the Golden Flyers slip to 3-2 overall. With the victory, the Tigers improve to 4-2 overall. Nazareth will play the loser of Thursday's second game between Brockport and William Smith at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Kidera Gymnasium.
In the first half, RIT forced Nazareth into 16 turnovers and held the Golden Flyers to 8-24 (33 percent) from the field in the opening stanza to claim a 34-27 lead at the break. RIT's Ashlynn Palmitesso has 11 points in the first 20 minutes to lead the Tigers.
Nazareth opened the second half with a 10-2 scoring run to claim a 37-36 lead. Runyon scored the first four points of the run with a pair of free throws and a jumper. Kelly followed with the next four points on a layup and jumper. After a Tigers' bucket, Kelly and junior
Veronica Peck each had a layup to cap the run.
The Tigers, however, rebounded with an 18-2 scoring run to 54-39 lead to take a game-high 15-point lead with 7:30 to play in regulation. The Golden Flyers closed to within five points, 55-50, only 3:13 later, but it was as close as Nazareth would rally. Senior
Maria Allocco started the run with a layup while Runyon and Kelly combined for six free throws. Junior
Sam Sorge also connected on a shot from outside the arc.
With the momentum swinging in the Golden Flyers' direction, Palmitesso scored the next four points on free throws and Amanda Olsen connected on a three-pointer to reclaim the Tigers' double-digit lead.
Nazareth finished with a 50-38 advantage in total rebounds, led by a game-high 14 by Kelly. Sorge added seven boards. RIT's defensive pressure forced the Golden Flyers into 26 turnovers for the game. Although the teams finished with about the same free throw percentage, 68 percent to 65 percent in the Tigers' favor, RIT had 14 more free throw attempts. Seven free throws in the final 1:21 secured the Tigers' win.