Alfred 62, Houghton 61
The Alfred University women's basketball team snapped its nine-game lose streak against the Highlanders in at Houghton College on Saturday afternoon.
Senior guard
Harley Cleary (Rochester, NY/Our Lady of Mercy) stayed hot on the weekend netting 19 points and four rebounds to pace the Saxons in their second Empire 8 win of the season.
AU dominated the Highlanders in the first half to jump out to an eleven-point lead going into the half. The Saxons were able to mount as high as a 16-point lead midway through the first, but the Houghton carried some momentum into the half. Alfred University shot 38.9% from the field in the first stanza while holding the Highlanders to a modest 25.8% form the field.
In the second half the Saxons lost their lead with 11:41 to go in the game, but quickly scratched their way back into control on an
Amanda Off (Berlin, NY/Unadilla Valley) layup with 9:56 to play. With the lead in hand the Saxons would not look back until Houghton went on a 10-2 run in the final minute. Houghton's Hannah Manwaring spearheaded the attack with two 3PT shots. However, the Saxons would not falter and carried out a 62-61 win on the road.
Off ended the afternoon with 14 points for the Saxons while freshman guard
McKaylee Croll (Perry, NY/Perry) added 13 points and three rebounds.
Nazareth 40, Elmira 39
The Golden Flyers slipped past Elmira to win their second women's basketball game in as many days with a 40-39 victory over Elmira. In a game with several lead changes, Nazareth pulled out the victory after
Lindsey Kelly scored two of her team-high 16 points with just 1:34 left in the game.
Nazareth extended its winning streak to three games and the Golden Flyers have now won five of six. The Golden Flyers improved to 13-7 overall and 8-3 (good for third place) in the Empire 8. Elmira is 7-12 overall and 2-6 in conference games.
Nazareth survived despite one of its poorest shooting efforts of the season. The Golden Flyers shot 29.3 percent from the field (17-for-58), including just 2-for-16 (12.5 percent) from three-point range. In addition, Nazareth went just 4-for-10 from the foul line.
Melissa Reeves put the Golden Flyers up 38-37 with 2:12 left in the game. Elmira's Danielle Cleary took back the one-point lead just 20 seconds later with 1:50 left in the game before Kelly put the game away at 1:34. The Soaring Eagles were not able to capitalize on their scoring opportunities. Elmira then misfired on two opportunities in the closing minute as Meghan Loya missed a jumper and Danielle Cleary missed a shot.
Kelly also led the Golden Flyers with 12 rebounds, recording her eighth double-double of the season.
Veronica Peck finished with nine points, Reeves with six,
Sam Sorge had five and
Julia Brew and
Colby McCartney had two each.
Elmira held the lead for the entire first half and by as much as 12 points with 7:00 left in the opening stanza. They took a 24-21 lead going into the second half. The second half was back-and-forth and neither team was able to pull ahead and maintain a lead for long. The largest lead the Golden Flyers were able to hold was just by one point.
Cleary led all scorers with 17 points. Alex Balara added 14 for the Soaring Eagles. Nazareth looks to keep its winning streak alive as they host Utica College Friday, February 13 at 6 pm.
Stevens 60, Hartwick 27
Stevens Institute of Technology head women's basketball coach
Megan Haughey recorded her 50
th career win Saturday in a 60-27 Empire 8 Conference win over Hartwick.
The win was Stevens' seventh straight moving them to 18-2 (11-1). With the loss, Hartwick fell to 5-15 (3-8).
Junior
Kaitlyn Astel led all players with 21 points, eight rebounds and five steals while junior
Dylan Krause chipped-in with nine points and four rebounds. Freshman
Megan Brown filled-up the stat sheet with three rebounds, six points, five assists, and two steals.
As a team, the Ducks defense allowed a season low 27 points while forcing 20 turnovers and holding the Hawks to 18 percent shooting from the field. The win keeps Stevens in a tie atop the E8.
The Ducks stormed out to a 12-0 lead over the first eight minutes keyed by four points from Washington and eight turnovers on Hartwick. The Hawks managed their first points of the game off a layup 15 seconds later, but six straight points from the Ducks capped by a pair of jumpers from Astel ballooned the Stevens lead to 16.
Stevens continued the defensive pressure with a full court press for the remainder of the half while continuing to build the lead on the offensive end. An Astel jumper with four minutes to go brought the lead to 24-5 before a jumper from junior
Megan Petuskey put the Ducks up by the 22 point lead they took into the half.
The Ducks maintained at least a 20 point lead over the first nine minutes before a three from Hartwick brought the Hawks to within 17. Stevens was able to answer though with layups on consecutive possessions by freshman
Megan Brown.
Hartwick pulled to within 18 two minutes later. But the Ducks responded again with a 7-0 run to put them back up 25 with six minutes remaining. From there, Stevens stopped the Hawks from making any sort of comeback, eventually extending the lead to the 33 off a pair of free throws from sophomore
Earyn Calvis.