Nazareth, Utica, Ithaca, Fisher record Tuesday victories
St. John Fisher 89, Alfred 45
The St. John Fisher College women's basketball team jumped out to a 43-21 halftime-lead and never looked back, as the Cardinals cruised to an 89-45 win over visiting Alfred University on Tuesday in an Empire 8 Conference matchup.
With the win, Fisher improves to 11-4 overall and 4-2 in the Empire 8, while Alfred falls to 4-11 and 1-6, respectively.
Fisher never trailed in the game. The Cardinals led 21-11 with 11:39 left in the first half, but pulled away after that, going on a 20-2 run over the next six minutes.
Ten different players scored for Fisher, including seven players with eight or more.
Emily Piacentini, who played a team-high 23 minutes, tied her career-high with 17 points, while snagging a career-high seven boards.
Mary Kate Cusack also scored 17 points and finished with six steals.
Portia Velasco scored 13 points in 13 minutes.
Lunden Cunningham finished with 10 points, while senior
Sydney Bloomstein chipped in with nine points.
Claire Walsh finished with eight points, while
Jessica Rhone led her team with a career-high eight rebounds.
Nicole Robinson finished with six points and six rebounds, while
Allie Mowder added a career-high three points.
McKenzie Bezon, Walsh, Cusack and Bloomstein each finished with four assists.
Fisher shot 48.6 percent from the floor for the game and finished the contest with a 48-31 advantage on the glass.
Fisher returns to action at 6 p.m. on Friday at Houghton College.
Nazareth 62, Elmira 41
Junior
Lindsey Kelly led all scorers with 22 points Tuesday and senior
Melissa Reeves collected a game-high 11 rebounds as host Nazareth defeated Elmira in Empire 8 women's basketball action, 62-41, at the Kidera Gymnasium.
Nazareth improved to 9-6 overall and 4-2 in the Empire 8. Elmira slipped to 6-9 overall and 3-5 in conference games. The Golden Flyers are off until Jan. 30 whe they host St. John Fisher at 6 p.m.
Kelly made 10 of 14 shots from the field in recording her season-high of 22 points. She also grabbed six rebounds. Junior
Julia Brew added 13 points and junior
Sam Sorge contributed nine points and seven assists.
The Golden Flyers were ahead almost from the outset Tuesday as Brew nailed a three-pointer on the first shot of the game. Nazareth led by as many as 12 points in the first half before settling for a nine-point lead, 29-20, at halftime. Brew scored 11 of her points, which included all three of the team's three-pointers in the first half. Kelly added seven of points despite sitting out 11 minutes with two fouls. Nazareth led 29-17 after a basket by Reeves with 2:07 left in the half. Elmira closed the half with a basket by Karli Pochkar and a free throw by Meghan Loya.
The Golden Flyers picked up in the second half where they left off in the first. Nazareth was able to pound the ball into Kelly, who made seven field goals in the final 20 minutes and had 15 of her points. The lead grew to 15 points at 45-30 following a three-pointer by freshman
Samantha Peebles. A basket by Reeves with 7:21 to go expanded the lead to 20 points at 52-32 and a layup by Kelly pushed the lead to a game-high 25 points, 59-34, with 3:40 to go.
Nazareth shot 24 for 53 (45.3 percent) from the field and 4 for 12 (33.3 percent) from three-point range and enjoyed a decisive 42-29 rebounding advantage. Alex Balara led Elmira with 14 points and Karli Pochkar added 11.
Utica 53, Hartwick 47
The Utica College women's basketball team won its fifth straight Empire 8 Conference contest on Tuesday night as the Pioneers downed host Hartwick College 53-47. Senior forwardBridget Greenwald (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) paced the Pioneers with her fifth double-double of the season as she registered a team-best 12 points and 12 rebounds.
The Pioneers jumped out to a 30-18 lead in the first 20 minutes of action and never looked back as they improved to 9-8 overall and 5-3 in the Empire 8. Hartwick has now lost five straight as its record moved to 4-12 overall and 2-5 in E8 play.
Hartwick led 15-14 11:56 into the contest until the Pioneers used a 16-3 run in the final 6:40 of the first half to take a 12 point lead at the half.
The Hawks cut the UC lead to five points, 40-35, with 9:05 left in regulation but that was as close as they would get. Utica answered with a 13-4 run in the next 6:18 to earn its largest lead of the contest, 53-39, with under two minutes remaining.
Hartwick managed to cut the Pioneers lead to six points in the closing moments but it proved to be too late.
Utica's Mary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) posted 10 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals, while senior forward Samantha Stayer (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone)added nine points and five rebounds.
Freshman classmates Ashley Mayo (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) andAmanda Henderson (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph by the Sea)each recorded seven points, while Ashelyne Babb (Lynn, MA/Winthrop) and Calypso Carty (Pipersville, PA/Central Bucks West) combined for eight points and three rebounds.
Jacqui Foreman and Emily Stone combined for 21 points and nine rebounds for Hartwick.
Ithaca 69, Houghton 29
The Ithaca College women's basketball team continued their winning ways on Tuesday evening in Ben Light Gymnasium with a 69-29 Empire 8 Conference victory over Houghton College. Ithaca has now won six straight games and is 12-3 overall on the season with a 6-0 mark in the Empire 8.
The 29 points allowed on Tuesday night were the lowest the Bombers have surrendered to an opponent since the 2012-13 season, when Ithaca held Elmira and Hartwick to that total.
Ithaca jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first 2:29 of the game on a pair of three-pointers and a layup from senior Ally Mnich. Houghton pulled to within two points at 12-10 by the 10:23 mark of the first half, but Ithaca would go on to outscore the Highlanders, 23-6, from there and took a 35-16 advantage into the break.
Mnich finished the game with eight points on 3-for-9 shooting to go along with seven rebounds.
Eight other players would score for the Bombers in the first half, with six coming from senior Francesca Cotrupe and five from sophomore Alex Gilligan. SeniorGeena Brady and sophomore Ali Ricchiuti each tallied four points in the opening 20 minutes.
The Bombers quickly built their lead up to 32 points within the first seven minutes of the second half at 50-18, and cruised from there. Ithaca's early run was highlighted by a trifecta of three-pointers from Ricchiuti, who finished with a game-high 13 points.
All 15 players for the Bombers entered the contest and 12 contributed at least two points. Cotrupe reached double-digits with 10 points to go along with five rebounds and three steals. Gilligan netted eight points with a pair of three-pointers, while Brady chipped in six.
Sophomore Erin Ferguson tallied five points. Junior Keri Steele and freshmenErin Woop and Allison Spaschak each notched four points apiece. Steele also pulled down four rebounds with four assists, while Woop swiped four steals and grabbed four rebounds.
Freshman Jordan Beers added three points with four rebounds and three assists, while senior Samantha Klie filled the stat sheet with four rebounds, four assists, two points and two steals. Sophomore Shayna Gaskins rounded out the scoring with two points and added five rebounds.
The Bombers recorded 19 steals in the victory and forced 25 turnovers. Ithaca also held Houghton to 24.5-percent shooting in the game and pulled down 50 rebounds (24 offensive). On the offensive end, Ithaca assisted on 20 of the 29 made baskets on the night.