Stevens clinches second seed in E8 Tournament

2/21/2015 6:50:13 PM

Stevens 73, St. John Fisher 64
The Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team went 8-8 from the free throw line in the final minute Saturday to clinch a 73-64 win over St. John Fisher College in the regular season finale.
 
The win locked-up the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Empire 8 Conference Tournament for the Ducks (22-2, 14-2) where they'll once again face Fisher (19-6, 12-4). The 22 wins is the most for Stevens since they won 23 during the 2008-09 campaign. 
 
Junior Kaitlyn Astel scored a career-high 26 points to go along with seven rebounds and three assists. Junior Dylan Krause added her first double-double of the season of 11 points and 12 rebounds while junior Miranda Ripken chipped-in with 15 points and six rebounds.
 
Sophomore Erica Guketlov had 12 points, four rebounds and two assists, and freshmen Anna Toke added 13 rebounds. As a team, Stevens shot 39.7 percent from the field and 80 percent from the line.
 
With the game tied at 15 eight minutes into the half, Fisher rattled-off four straight points to build the slight lead before Stevens answered with three points from Ripken. The Cardinals responded with a three and a jumper, but a layup from Ripken cut the deficit to four with seven minutes to go.
 
Both teams went back and forth over the next four minutes until the Ducks evened the score with a three point play from Astel with three minutes to go. Freshmen Sydney Darby and Ripken kept the momentum going with jumpers, but Fisher scored four of the next six points to cut the lead to three.
 
Stevens' defense held the Cardinals scoreless from there, allowing Astel's layup with 16 minutes to go to put the team up five going into the break.
 
Fisher tied the game at the 15 minute mark after an 8-0 run, but the Ducks answered with a 6-0 run capped by a pair of free throws from Toke. Stevens maintained at least an eight point lead over the next six minutes until six straight from Fisher cut the deficit to three.
 
The Ducks responded to the Fisher threat with a three from Guketlov followed by a layup from Astel to put Stevens up seven with five minutes to go. The Cardinals answered with five straight, but the Ducks closed the game on a 10-4 run, including eight free throws, to clinch the win.

Nazareth 53, Hartwick 52
Visiting Nazareth held off Hartwick Saturday in Empire 8 women's basketball action, winning 53-52 to complete the regular season with a 15-10 overall record.

The Golden Flyers will play again next weekend at Ithaca in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament as the fourth seed. The Golden Flyers completed the conference schedule with a 10-6 record. Hartwick finishes at 5-11 in the Empire 8 and 7-18 overall.

Junior Lindsey Kelly combined 15 points with 10 rebounds to pace the Golden Flyers, who also got 12 points from Sam Sorge and nine points from Veronica Peck -- all on three-pointers.

Nazareth was on the verge of breaking the game open after taking a 27-19 halftime lead and extending that to as many as 13 points, 42-29, following a pair of free throws by Kelly midway through the second half.

Hartwick battled back by using a 18-16 scoring run to take  the lead, 49-48, following a pair of free throws by Taylor Vonasek with 6:31 to go. Samantha Peebles sank two free throws with 5:16 left to allow Nazareth to regain the lead, but another free throw by Vonasek enabled Hartwick to tie the score at 50-50 with 4:10 to go.

Melissa Reeves hit a free throw for Nazareth with 3:51 to play and Kelly followed with two more with 2:47 left to give Nazareth a 53-50 lead. A basket by Hartwick's
Emily Stone with 1:21 left completed the scoring, but both teams missed chances in the closing minute, notably a missed layup by Vonasek with :02 left that could have given the Hawks the upset win.

Nazareth made 17 of 47 shots, including 7 of 21 from three-point range. The Golden Flyers enjoyed a 42-31 rebounding edge. Vonasek led all scorers with 18 points. Stone added 15 and Courtney Cirillo had 11 for the Hawks, who went 18 for 58 from the floor, including 4 of 12 from three-point range.

Elmira 78, Alfred 59
The Alfred University women's basketball team fell in its final game of the 2014-15 season to the Elmira College Soaring Eagles, 78-59, Saturday afternoon.
 
The Saxons end their season with a record of 6-19 overall and 2-14 in the Empire 8.  Elmira improves to 10-15 overall and 6-10 in the Empire 8 with the win.
 
Senior guard Harley Cleary (Rochester, NY/Our Lady of Mercy) finished her career in Saturday's game with 23 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Sophomore forward Amanda Off (New Berlin, NY/Unadilla Valley) also came out shooting well, notching 19 points and eight rebounds during the game. 
 
Elmira College's Danielle Cleary scored a game-high 37 points for the Soaring Eagles.  Alex Balara and Karli Pochkar also scored in double-digits with 17 points and 11 points, respectively.
 
AU's Cleary stands as one of the best scorers in Alfred University women's basketball history following her four-year career. Her, and fellow senior Emilea Harrison (Conesus, NY/Dansville) are going to be missed as veteran presences on and off the court.