Women's Basketball | 2/22/2025 5:38:15 PM
Top seeds SUNY Brockport, SUNY Geneseo, St. John Fisher and Nazareth University advanced to the 2025 Empire 8 Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament Semifinal round after advancing in quarterfinal action on Saturday, Feb. 22. SUNY Brockport defeated No. 8 Elmira College, 101-62, while Geneseo earned a 68-43 win over No. 7 Alfred University. No. 3 St. John Fisher defeated No. 6 Houghton University, 72-55, while No. 4 Nazareth recorded a 71-48 win over No. 5 Russell Sage College.
No. 1 Brockport and No. 4 Nazareth will face off in the first Empire 8 Semifinal on Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 5:30 p.m., while No. 2 Geneseo and No. 3 St. John Fisher meet in the second semifinal, also at 5:30 p.m. Earlier this season, Brockport defeated Nazareth, 85-72 at home on Feb. 7, while Geneseo held St. John Fisher to a season-low 41 points in a 54-41 win that same evening.
NO. 1 SUNY BROCKPORT 101, NO. 8 ELMIRA 62
Top-seed SUNY Brockport hit the 100-point plateau in rolling to a 101-62 win over Elmira on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Eagles scored at least 23 points in all four quarters, improving to 23-3 on the season. Elmira had its season come to an end with a 13-13 mark.
Brockport caused 23 Elmira turnovers and made 35 field goals on the afternoon. The Golden Eagles had five players finish in the double figures.
Stephanie Jean-Baptiste led the Golden Eagles with 25 points to go along with three steals in just 22 minutes of action. Kalieigh Hunt finished with a double-double, scoring 15 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Mandy Brink had 15 points, while Shannon Blankenship added 13 points.
Taylor Jung led Elmira with 15 points, while Amarionah Dixon had a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with three steals. D’Asia Jones added 14 points for Brockport.
NO. 2 SUNY GENESEO 68, NO. 7 ALFRED 43
The stout SUNY Geneseo defense squandered just 14 second half points, breaking open a close game and earning a 68-43 win over Alfred on Saturday afternoon. Geneseo moved to 20-6 on the season, while Alfred had its season come to an end with a 13-13 record.
Geneseo opened up the game firing on all cylinders, going ahead 10-0 in the first four minutes of play. Six points from
Kristin Suydam and buckets from
Eva Elliot and
Mackenzie Reigle led the opening run, but the Saxons knocked down four three-point shots in the closing minutes to flip the momentum and gain a 16-14 lead going to the second quarter.
Reigle scored six of the first eight points for Geneseo in the second quarter, then
Kiley Snow drained back-to-back shots to give the Knights a 29-25 lead with 3:41 left on the clock. Unfortunately, Alfred kept Geneseo off the scoreboard for the remainder of the half and tied the game before the halftime buzzer at 29-29.
The Knights came out firing to open the third quarter, going on a 13-0 run to open it up over the first five and a half minutes. Geneseo continued to keep the pressure on the Saxons throughout the quarter and led by as many as 20 points at 53-33.
Reigle nearly tallied a triple double for the Knights, posting 10 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds. Suydam led all players in points with 16 on 7-of-10 shooting from the field, while
Audrey Hintz (14), Snow (11), and Galgano (10) also reached double digit scoring. Elliot led the team in rebounding with 10.
Jayda Felker and Felicia Stewart led Alfred with 11 points apiece. The Saxons shot just 21 percent from the floor in the loss.
NO. 3 ST. JOHN FISHER 72, NO. 6 HOUGHTON 55
Three-time defending champion St. John Fisher used dominant first and third quarters to earn a 72-55 win over Houghton University from Manning Napier Varsity Gym on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals improve to 19-7 on the season, while Houghton had its season come to an end with a 17-9 mark.
Elmira jumped out to a 24-15 lead after the opening quarter and extended its lead to 54-37 after three quarters of play. St. John Fisher’s Sidney Tomasso recorded a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds to go along with three rebounds and three assists. Katie Moravec was right behind with 21 points on 7-fo-12 shooting from the floor to go along with eight rebounds, while Presleigh Brunner added 15 points.
Kayla Camacho was the lone Highlander to finish in double figures, scoring 21 points to go along with seven rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes.
NO. 4 NAZARETH 71 , NO. 5 RUSSELL SAGE 48
Nazareth shook of a slow start to outscore Russell Sage 59-35 over the final three quarters of play to earn a 71-48 win from Kidera Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. Nazareth won its 20th game of the season, improving to 20-6, while Russell Sage finished the season with an 11-15 mark.
The Golden Flyers held Russell Sage to just 29 shooting from the floor, while shooting 48 percent. In addition, Nazareth out-rebounded the Gators, 46-33.
Madalyn Kelly, who drilled 10 made 3-pointers against the Gators on Feb. 14, scored a game-high 18 points to go along with six boards and four assists. Sarina McDowell, Molly Benetti, and Katie MacLachlan scored 14 points apiece for Nazareth.
Malena Gereau was the lone Russell Sage player to score in double figures, finishing with 14 points.
2024-25 Empire 8 Women's Basketball Championship Schedule
Saturday, February 22 – Quarterfinals
No. 1 SUNY Brockport defeated No. 8 Elmira, 101-62 – BOX SCORE
No. 2 SUNY Geneseo defeated No. 7 Alfred, 68-43 – BOX SCORE
No. 3 St. John Fisher defeated No. 6 Houghton, 72-55 – BOX SCORE
No. 4 Nazareth defeated No. 5 Russell Sage, 71-48 – BOX SCORE
Wednesday, February 26 - Semifinals
No. 4 Nazareth at No. 1 SUNY Brockport– 5:30 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
No. 3 St. John Fisher at No. 2 SUNY Geneseo – 5:30 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Saturday, March 1 - Championship Final
Winner of Semifinal 1 vs. Winner of Semifinal 2 -– TBA (at highest remaining seed) – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
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
www.empire8.com.
EMPIRE 8 SOCIAL MEDIA
YouTube –
Facebook –
Twitter –
Instagram