By: St. John Fisher Athletic Communications
For the first time in 355 days, the St. John Fisher College Cardinals were back in action as the women's basketball team overwhelmed East Avenue rival Nazareth College, 66-46, in an Empire 8 contest inside Kidera Gymnasium. With the win, Fisher, which is coming off an Empire 8 Championship and an appearance in the NCAA Division III Championship in 2020, moved to 1-0 while the Golden Flyers slipped to 0-1.
Freshmen Kaitlyn Walker and Hannah Morse led the way as the duo scored 13 and 12 points, respectively, in their Fisher debut. Walker also added seven rebounds in the win while Miranda Lynch added nine points and a pair of assists. Amy Gardner finished with seven points, five rebounds and three dimes while Sam Fischer chipped in with six points and a game-high eight boards.
After holding a six-point edge following the first 10 minutes of play, Fisher would push its advantage to 10, 24-14, courtesy of an 11-2 run that featured seven points from Morse. As the second period wore on, the Golden Flyers would pull to within five before Ally Shoemaker found Walker in the paint for a final second lay-up to make it 29-21 at the break.
With the Cardinals ahead by eight to begin the second half, neither team was able to find its stride over the first four minutes of play until a lay-up from Walker sparked a 16-0 burst as part of a larger 19-3 run over a span of 6:55 to make it 50-28 heading into the fourth quarter.
As the final quarter got underway, the Cardinals' lead would shrink to 14 points, but that was as close as Nazareth would get as a bucket in the paint by Lauren Robbins and a pair of free throws from Shoemaker put the game out of reach.
As a team, Fisher was 25-for-64 from the floor and connected on 12-of-16 chances from the charity stripe. Defensively, Fisher held the Golden Flyers to just 26 percent shooting overall and forced 17 turnovers.
The Cardinals will return to action at 7 p.m. on Wednesday when they welcome the University of Rochester to Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium for the team's home opener.