Women's Basketball | 2/6/2022 2:44:00 PM
PITTSFORD, NY – The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College women's basketball team buried a season-high 15 3-pointers and clinched a berth in the upcoming Empire 8 Championship on Sunday after cruising to a 98-63 win over the visiting Russell Sage Gators in an Empire 8 tilt inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court. With the win, Fisher, which is ranked 22nd in the latest D3hoops.com poll, improved to 19-2 overall and 11-1 in the league standings while the Gators fell to 9-12, 5-7, respectively.
After building a 26-21 lead in the first quarter thanks to 11 points off the bench from Miranda Lynch, Fisher saw its lead shrink to begin the second frame after the Gators tied things up at 29-29 with a 6-1 run.
As the period continued, neither team was able to gain a clear advantage as the score was tied four times over the final four minutes until a late foul by the Cardinals afforded Sage a 39-38 edge at halftime.
The break in action seemed to energize Fisher as the Cardinals came out of the locker room on fire as the home team used a 15-3 run over nearly five minutes of play to build up a 53-42 cushion.
From there, head coach
Melissa Kuberka's squad continued to fire on all cylinders and strung together another big run, this time outscoring Sage 15-5 over the final five minutes of the third quarter to take an 18-point lead into the final frame.
Ahead 68-50 with 10 minutes left in the game, the Cardinals put the game out of reach after holding the Gators to just three free throws over a five-minute stretch while scoring 16 points of their own to make it 84-53 with 4:48 showing on the clock.
As the game ticked down, the Cardinals' advantage would grow to as many as 37 before final horn sounded.
In all, 13 different players registered a point led by Lynch who poured in 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Amy Gardner added 13 points and five assists while Claire Kruszka netted 11 points to go along with seven rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals. Sidney Tomasso contributed 10 points and five rebounds while Leah Koonmen produced nine points and eight rebounds over 19 minutes.
The Cardinals will look to move closer to clinching the top overall seed in the upcoming Empire 8 Championship at 6 p.m. on Tuesday when they make the short trek down East Avenue to take on the Nazareth College Golden Flyers inside Kidera Gym.