Women's Basketball | 2/22/2024 10:35:35 PM
Top-seeded St. John Fisher University (22-4) and No. 3 Houghton University (23-4) advanced to the 2024 Empire 8 Women's Basketball Tournament Championship game after earning semifinal victories on Thursday, February 22. St. John Fisher defeated No. 4 Hartwick College, 62-50 in the one semifinal, while Houghton went on the road to defeat No. 2 seed Nazareth University, 63-52.
Houghton and St. John Fisher will meet at 1 p.m.on Saturday afternoon for the Empire 8 Championship, with the winner earning an automatic berth into the 2024 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship Tournament, which begins March 1-2. The Cardinals are looking to make it three straight E8 titles and eight league titles overall. The Highanders are looking to win their first Empire 8 Championship.
St. John Fisher and Houghton split the regular season series with each team winning on its own home court. The Cardinals earned a 65-49 owin at Manning Napier Varsity Gym on Jan. 12, while the Highlanders built a big lead and hung on to post a 65-58 win on Feb. 8.
NO. 1 ST. JOHN FISHER 62, NO. 4 HARTWICK 50
St. John Fisher University women's basketball team came back from a halftime deficit and finished strong to beat Hartwick, 62-50 Thursday evening. The Cardinals improve to 22-4 this season, while Hartwick has its season come to an end with a 13-14 record.
The victory puts the Cardinals just one win away from an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III tournament.
After initially jumping to a 12-2 lead with just over five minutes left in the first quarter, the Cardinals saw their lead slowly evaporate, with the Hawks narrowing it to 16-13 by the end of the quarter.
Hartwick opened the second quarter on an 11-0 run to take the lead, 24-16. Although the Cardinals were able to narrow the Hartwick lead to four, they still entered halftime down, 28-24.
The Cardinals came out strong after the half, cutting the lead to one with a 3-pointer by freshman
Madeline Ramsgard and then taking the 30-28 lead with another three-pointer, this one from Empire 8 Player of the Year
Sidney Tomasso. The Cardinals would never trail again, outscoring the Hawks 38-22 in the second half en route to a 12-point win.
Junior guard
Katie Moravec led the way for the Cardinals, racking up a team-high 19 points while adding eight rebounds and an assist. Tomasso also reached double-digits, with 13 points. Ramsgard scored 12 points and had a strong defensive night, making six steals and six rebounds. Empire 8 Co-Rookie of the Year
Joleen Lusk led the team in rebounds, with 13, and added five assists and a block.
Fisher outrebounded the Hawks 42-34 on the night, and outshot them from beyond the arc, 53.8 percent (7-for-13) to 26.3 percent (5-for-19).
Bree Fargnoli led Hartwick with 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.
NO. 3 HOUGHTON 63, NO. 2 NAZARETH 52
The Houghton Highlanders have earned their first trip to the Empire 8 championship game, defeating the No. 2-seeded Nazareth Golden Flyers on their home court, 63-52. Houghtion improves to 23-4, while Nazareth falls to 22-4 in 2023-24.
Once again, the Highlanders relied heavily on their swarming defense, which has become their calling card this season. Houghton held the high-powered Nazareth offense—which averaged over 71 points per game and shot 46 percent from the floor this season—to only 52 points and a 30.9 shooting percentage.
The Highlanders jumped out to an early 17-12 lead after the first quarter, before cooling slightly in the second 10 minutes. At the half, Houghton led by only three points, 27-24.
But the Highlanders began to flex their muscles in the third, building their lead to as many as 15 points before a Nazareth 7-0 run closed out the quarter with Houghton up by eight points.
After an early Houghton flourish in the opening minutes of the final quarter, the Golden Flyers began to chip away at the Highlanders lead. With less than five minutes to play, Nazareth's Olivia Dobrovosky hit a pair of free throws to cut the Houghton lead to only five points.
But a layup by
Crysta LaCrosse, and a clutch three from
Marley Drake, sent the Highlanders on a 9-0 run, from which the Golden Flyers would never recover.
While the Highlanders defeated the Golden Flyers 12 days ago in the Nielsen Center, tonight's victory is the first time they have claimed victory in Kidera Gymnasium since December 7, 2012. The last time Houghton's women's basketball team played in a conference championship game was 2000-2001 when the Highlanders won the Northeast Atlantic Conference (NAIA) title and advanced to the NAIA Tournament.
Hought
on's Kayla Camacho, posted her second double-double of the season, scoring 16 points and pulling down a team-high 10 rebounds. She reached double-digit points for the 23rd time this season. LaCrosse went 7-of-12 from the floor for a team-high 17 points, while Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year,
Trinity Copeland, pulled down seven rebounds and picked up three steals.
Abby Guiher nailed 3-of-5 from beyond the arc and added a free throw for 10 points.
Dobrovosky led the Golden Flyers with 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals.
2023-24 Empire 8 Women's Basketball Championship Schedule
Tuesday, February 20 – First Round (All games at Higher Seed)
No. 4 Hartwick defeated No. 5 Utica, 69-44 – BOX SCORE
No. 3 Houghton defeated No. 6 Elmira, 71-43 – BOX SCORE
Thursday, February 22 – Semifinals (All games at Higher Seed)
No. 3 Houghton defeated No. 2 Nazareth, 63-52 – BOX SCORE
No. 1 St. John Fisher defeated No. 4 Hartwick, 62-50 – BOX SCORE
Saturday, February 24 - Championship Final (at Highest Remaining Seed)
No. 3 Houghton at No. 1 St. John Fisher – 1 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
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The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
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