Box Score

Elmira, NY – The Elmira College Women's Basketball team got off to a slow start but completed a tremendous comeback downing visiting Alfred University, 61-58, Tuesday evening in Speidel Gymnasium. The win improves the Soaring Eagles to 8-13 overall and 3-7 in Empire 8 play, while the loss drops the Saxons to 6-15 and 0-11.

Alfred got out to a quick 13-4 lead just over seven minutes in behind seven points from Harley Cleary and four points from Heather Hebert. The Saxons extended their lead to 22-4 with eight minutes remaining in the opening half as Elmira couldn't find their shooting stroke starting the game just 1-for-20 from the field.

Over the remainder of the half the Soaring Eagles picked up their shooting stroke converting on seven of their final 13 attempts. EC finished the half on a 17-5 run over the final 5:23 to trim an 18 point deficit to just six. The Saxons took a 31-25 lead into intermission.

Jessica Brooks '16 (Greene, NY -- Greene Central) exploded off the bench for Elmira with seven points shooting a perfect 2-for-2 from the field, while draining her only three-point attempt and making both of her free throws in just three minutes of action. Jessica Zoltowski '14 (Erie, PA -- Harbor Creek) added six points, but shot just 1-for-8 with four of her points coming from the charity stripe.

Cleary led all scorers in the opening 20 minutes as she had 15 points on 4-for-7 shooting, including a 3-for4 mark from downtown. Hebert added eight making all three of her field goal attempts.

The Saxons led by as many as 10 at 35-25 early on in the second half. Over the next four minutes EC responded with an 8-0 run to get within 35-33 with 13:36 remaining after a pair of Liz Forrest '14 (North Walpole, NH -- Fall Mountain) free throws. The Soaring Eagles took their first lead of the game at 44-43 with 7:27 left on the clock after a Tempestt Black '14 (Wolcott, NY -- North-Rose Wolcott) traditional three-point play.

Down the stretch the contest saw four ties and four lead changes as both teams fought for an important conference victory. Elmira took the lead for good at 58-57 with 1:07 left to play after Breen Loney '14 (West Chesterfield, NH -- Keene) split a pair of attempts from the charity stripe. Brooks collected a crucial offensive rebound and converted a lay-up with just 18 seconds left to extend the lead to three. Cleary and Zoltowski each split a pair of late trips to the free throw line and a late Saxon attempt from downtown fell short as Elmira held on for the 61-58 victory.

Zoltowski led the Purple and Gold with a double-double finishing with 20 points and 13 rebounds. She now has 998 career points during her career at Elmira. Forrest added 10 points, while Brooks had a monster game finishing with career-highs of nine points and three rebounds while shooting 75 percent from the field.

Cleary led all scorers finishing with 26 points, while adding seven rebounds. Sarah Federico tallied eight points and 11 rebounds, while Hebert recorded 13 points and three assists. Alfred committed 21 turnovers, which led to 19 Soaring Eagle points. Meanwhile, EC turned the ball over just 11 times in the game, while holding a 23-5 edge in bench scoring.

The Women's Basketball team returns to the hardwood Friday when it travels to Hoboken, NJ to take on Stevens Institute of Technology starting at 6:00 p.m.