Zoltowski Sets Two College Records in 70-64 Win Over Penn Tech
Williamsport, PA -- The Elmira College women's basketball team (15-6) used a strong second half effort to seal their 15th win of the season as the Soaring Eagles downed the Pennsylvania College of Technology (7-18), 70-64. Elmira's 15 wins are the seventh most in program history and the most since the 2006-07 season.
Fourth-year standout
Jessica Zoltowski '14 continued to set career and single-season milestones as her six free throws broke two Elmira College records. Her six freebies upped her career total to 346, giving her sole possession of first place for career makes and it also brought her single-season total to 121, which is also an EC best.
Zoltowski finished with a double-double as she recorded 25 points and 11 boards.
Liz Forrest '14 was just one rebound shy of a double-double as she scored 14 points and pulled down nine boards.
Alex Balara '15 and
Maria Thannhauser '14 also finished in double figures as Balara scored 13 while Thannhauser chipped in 11. Elmira's other starter,
Meghan Loya '16, did her part on the boards as she grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds to go along with five points. In total, Elmira's starters accounted for 68 of EC's 70 points.
The first half of tonight's game was a back-and-forth affair as the lead changed hands six times in addition to nine ties. Elmira held the largest first half lead at 12-7 at the 15:03 mark but the Wildcats of Penn Tech would use an 8-0 run to take a 15-12 lead with 12:10 to play.
From the 12:10 mark on, the lead would change hands five times and eventually result in a 36-36 tie at halftime. The success on the offensive end for both teams can be credited to two stats in the box score. For Penn Tech, the key was scoring from close range as 20 of their 36 points came in the paint, while the Soaring Eagles capitalized on the Wildcats' turnovers, scoring 19 points off those takeaways.
Both teams would trade baskets in the early going of the second half but an 8-0 run by the Soaring Eagles would give EC their largest lead of the game at 53-44 with 11:21 to play.
Penn Tech's resilience made things interesting as they cut the Elmira lead to just two points as they pieced together a mini 6-0 run. However, the Purple and Gold responded with a 7-0 run of their own to reclaim their nine point lead with 6:06 to play.
The Soaring Eagles' lead would hover around five points for the remainder of the game, peaking as high as seven and falling as low as three with 1:24 left in regulation. In the final minute of play, EC's Balara would knock down four free throws and Zoltowski would hit two more to seal Elmira's 70-64 win.
The Soaring Eagles will be back in action this Friday, February 14th as Elmira travels to nearby Ithaca College for a critical Empire 8 battle. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. in Ithaca, NY.