Women's Basketball | 2/26/2025 9:17:41 PM
Top-seeded SUNY Brockport (24-3) and No. 2 seed SUNY Geneseo (21-6) advanced to the 2025 Empire 8 Women's Basketball Tournament Championship game after earning semifinal victories on Wednesday, February 26. SUNY Brockport defeated No. 4 Nazareth University, 93-86 in the one semifinal, while SUNY Geneseo earned a 72-54 win over the three-time defending E8 Champions, No. 3 seed St. John Fisher University.
Brockport and Geneseo will meet at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 1 for the Empire 8 Championship, with the winner earning an automatic berth into the 2025 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship Tournament, which begins March 7-8. Both Brockport and Geneseo are in their first season as Empire 8 members.
Brockport swept the regular season series between the two schools, rallying from a 24-point fourth quarter deficit to win at Geneseo, 73-72 on Jan. 28, while clinching the E8 regular season title with a 75-61 win at the Jim and John Vlogianitis Gymnasium on Feb. 18.
NO. 1 SUNY BROCKPORT 93, NO. 4 NAZARETH 86
SUNY Brockport outlasted Nazareth in the highest scoring regulation final in Empire 8 Women’s Basketball Tournament history, 93-86. The Golden Eagles move to 24-3 on the season, while Nazareth fell to 20-7.
Brockport led 67-51 after three quarters before Nazareth responded with 35 fourth quarter points. The Golden Flyers would score 26 of their own, hitting several key free throws late to put the game away.
The two teams combined for 26 made 3-pointers which is also an Empire 8 Championship record.
Stephanie Jean-Baptiste led five Brockport scorers in double figures with 24 points to go along with six boards and five assists. Mandy Brink finished with 17 points, while Kaileigh Hunt recorded a double-double with 14 points and 12 boards. Shannon Blankenship added 14 points, while Harmony Philo drilled 4 3-pointers en route to 12 points.
Molly Benetti led four Nazareth players in double figures with 21 points, 10 boards and four assists. Madalynn Kelly drilled five shots from beyond the arc and finished with 19 points, while Katie MacLachlan filled the stat sheet with 17 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four steals.
NO. 2 SUNY GENESEO 72, NO. 3 ST. JOHN FISHER 54
SUNY Geneseo used a ferocious defense effort to hold St. John Fisher to just 25 percent shooting from the floor on its way to a 72-54 win. Geneseo improved to 21-6, while St. John Fisher fell to 19-8, as the Cardinals had their bid to win a fourth straight E8 title stopped.
The Knights controlled the game from the opening tip, never trailing in the contest after taking a 2-0 lead on the opening possession with a jump shot from
Kristin Suydam. A few possessions later, Geneseo went on a 10-0 run spurred by eight points from
Grace Galgano to go ahead 12-2.
Geneseo maintained the double-digit lead heading to the second quarter ahead by a score of 21-11.
Maggie McGrane helped the Knights quickly go ahead by 17 points after knocking down a three, but the Cardinals had the final answer before halftime, going on an 8-0 run to cut the lead down to eight at 39-31.
Geneseo did not allow any momentum to be carried into the third quarter by the Cardinals, holding them to just one point of offense for nearly seven minutes. The 14-1 run to open the second half was highlighted by a balanced attack from the Knights with six different players scoring.
The Knights had three players record a double-double in the game. Galgano scored a team-high 20 points while bringing in 11 rebounds,
Audrey Hintz tacked on 15 points with a team-high 12 rebounds, and
Mackenzie Reigle tallied 12 assists to go along with 11 points.
Geneseo shot 50.9 percent from the field, while limiting the Cardinals to 25.4 percent. The Knights recorded 42 points in the paint, compared to 18 from St. John Fisher.
Kelly Moravec led St. John Fisher with 23 points, draining six 3-pointers, while twin sister Katie Moravec had 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists.
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. 1 SUNY Brockport defeated No. 4 Nazareth, 93-86 – BOX SCORE
No. 2 SUNY Geneseo defeated No. 3 St. John Fisher, 72-54 – BOX SCORE
Saturday, March 1 - Championship Final
No. 2 SUNY Geneseo at No. 1 SUNY Brockport -– 2 p.m. – 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.
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