Stevens wins 10th straight; Elmira, Fisher, Utica also win
Stevens 69, Nazareth 52
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Visiting Stevens outscored Nazaeth 40-23 in the second half Saturday to break open a close game and the Ducks went on to take a 69-52 women's basketball victory over the Golden Flyers at the Kidera Gymnasium.
Stevens won for the 10th straight time and improved to 10-1 overall and 5-0 in the Empire 8 Conference. Nazareth had a four-game winning streak snapped and slipped to 7-5 overall and 2-1 in conference games. Stevens' Kaitlyn Astel scored a game-high 23 points to lead a balanced Ducks offense, whichy included 12 points from Miranda Ripken and 10 points each from Dylan Krause and Brittany Washington.
Juniors
Julia Brew and
Lindsey Kelly each scored 13 points for Nazareth, Kelly added a game-high nine rebounds.
The game was tied 29-29 at the half. Stevens went up by eight points early, 14-6, but Nazareth got back in it as
Hannah Runyon dropped two free throws, Brew hit a three-pointer and Kelly scored from underneath the basket. Nazareth still trailed, though, until
Sam Sorge hit her second three-pointer of the half with 4:49 to go. She scored all eight of her points in the first half. Brew also made a pair of three-pointers in the first half. Nazareth led 29-27 after a free throw by
Kelly Broderick with :35 left in the half, but Astel tied the score with a pair of free throws with :19 left.
Stevens dominated the second half by hitting 13 of 25 shots (52 percent) with two three-pointers while holiding Nazareth to 9-for-31 shooting (28.1 percent). Stevens' Erica Guketlov scored the first basket of the second half to break the tie and the Ducks were ahead the rest of the way. An 18-8 scoring run, capped by a basket by Astel, enabled the Ducks to open a 10-point advantage, 47-37, with 11:13 left.
The lead continued to grow and ballooned to a game-high 18 points, 59-31, following a basket by Ripken with 5:31 to go. Nazareth made a last-ditch attempt to get back in the game and closed to within 61-50 following a three-pointer by Brew with 1:37 to go, but Astel made four free throws and Ripken and Sydney Darby each made two to close out the Golden Flyers.
St. John Fisher 73, Hartwick 50
The St. John Fisher College women's basketball team used a strong second half to post a 73-50 win over visiting Hartwick College on Saturday at Fisher's Manning & Napier Varsity Gymnasium.
With the win, Fisher improves to 10-4 overall and 2-3 in the Empire 8, while Hartwick falls to 4-9, 2-2.
Fisher, who led for most of the first half, took its biggest lead of the opening period at 31-23 after a pair of free throws from senior
Sydney Bloomstein with just over one minute left in the half.
Hartwick, however scored the final five points of the period to pull within three at the break and made it a one-point game at 31-30 on the opening possession of the second half.
Fisher responded with an 8-0 run, started by back-to-back 3-pointers from
Mary Kate Cusack and
McKenzie Bezon, to regain control.
The Cardinals used runs of 6-0 and 12-0 late in the period to pull away, as Fisher outscored the Hawks 42-22 over the final 20 minutes.
Fisher used a balanced attack with 10 players scoring at least five points in the game. Bloomstein paced the Cardinals with 11 points while
Bridget Carney notched 10. Cusack racked up a game-high five steals, while
Lunden Cunningham grabbed a team-high six boards.
Utica 72, Alfred 50
The Utica College women's basketball team picked up its second Empire 8 victory in as many days as it downed conference foe, Alfred University 72-50
Saturday afternoon. Five different players scored at least ten points to pace the Pioneers, including freshman
Ashley Mayo (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet), who netted a career-high 16 points.
With the win, Utica improves to 6-8 overall and 2-3 in the E8. Alfred drops to 4-9, with a 1-4 mark in league play. The Pioneers return home next weekend for a conference double-header against Houghton and Nazareth. UC hosts Houghton
Friday at 6 p.m. before welcoming Naz
on Saturday (
2 p.m.).
The Pioneers found themselves down 32-30 at halftime, but opened the second half outscoring Alfred 18-2 in the first six minutes. Freshman
Ashelyne Babb (Lynn, MA/Winthrop) also had a career day as she scored 15 points off the bench and added a team-best four steals to go along with six rebounds and three assists.
Mary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) had 13 points and tied for the team lead with four dishes, while
Samantha Stayer (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) collected a double-double with 12 points and 15 boards. Senior
Bridget Greenwald (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) helped out on both ends of the court, draining 10 points and grabbing nine rebounds.
The Pioneers scored 34 points off of turnovers, while allowing just 14 total giveaways to the Saxons.
Kelsey Cowell (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen) and Christy Traglie combined for six points and six rebounds on the day. Alfred was led by Amanda Off, who had 17 points in the loss.
Elmira 59, Houghton 44
The Elmira College women's basketball team (5-7, 2-3 E8) defeated Empire 8 Conference foe Houghton College (3-10, 0-5 E8) 59-44 today. Danielle Cleary '18 led the Purple and Gold with 15 points, four steals, two rebounds, two assists, and two blocks in today's win.
Jessica Brooks '16 scored 10 points, pulled down two rebounds, and dished out an assist while Meghan Loya '16 tallied nine points, eight rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block in today's action. Alex Balara '15 also had a solid performance with eight rebounds, seven points, three assists, and three steals in the game.
The Soaring Eagles showed no ill-effect from last night's heartbreaking loss to Utica College, coming out with an aggressive mindset on both ends of the floor. The attacking nature of EC's game proved effective in the early goings as Elmira scored 12 of the game's first 15 points, leading 12-3 with 12:54 left in the first half. Houghton began to close the gap and made it a 19-16 game with 4:54 to play in the opening half, but five straight points from Makinsey Carolus '18 pushed EC's advantage up to eight points and halted the Highlanders' momentum. The Soaring Eagles added to their lead in the final three-plus minutes of the half, holding an 11-point advantage at intermission.
With EC's top two scorers, Balara and Cleary, struggling from the field, Brooks stepped up with eight points, including two big three-pointers. Overall, Elmira shot just 25.7 percent from the field in the opening half, but their 11-point halftime lead was aided by 28.0 percent shooting and 13 forced Highlander turnovers.
Elmira continued to build upon their 11 point lead in the second half and after a Cleary three-pointer took a lead of 19, 54-35 with just less than five minutes of play left in regulation time. The Highlanders would finish the game with a 9-5 run, but it would not be enough as the Soaring Eagles finished the game with a score of 59-44.