Elmira, NY -- The Elmira College women's basketball team opened their 2014-15 campaign with a 71-47 defeat to the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. EC had two players score in double-figures with newcomer Danielle Cleary '18 leading the way with 14 points in her first career start.
 
Elmira also received a double-digit effort from Karli Pochkar'16, who turned in 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Coming in just behind Pochkar in the box score were Marissa Silverman'17, who scored nine points in 17 minutes off the bench, and Pochkar's frontcourt mate, Meghan Loya'16, who put in eight points.
 
In addition to her eight points, Loya dominated the glass as her career-high 17 rebounds paced all players on the floor. The 17 rebounds are six more than Loya's previous career-high of 11 rebounds set on February 12, 2014 against Penn College and are the most recorded by any Elmira women's basketball player since Erin Rupell '11 also grabbed 17 rebounds against St. John Fisher College on February 21, 2009.
 
EC assisted on 14 of its 18 baskets, with starting point guard Kelsey Geisler'15 leading the team with five. Loya tallied three assists and Pochkar added two while four other players rounded out the 14 assist total.
 
The new-look Soaring Eagles operated the high-low offense with efficiency in the early portion of the first half as Loya fed Pochkar for EC's first four points of the contest. But the Panthers began to clamp down on the Soaring Eagles and opened up a 12-6 lead after an 8-2 run. Silverman knocked down a three-pointer to cut EC's deficit in half, but Pitt-Bradford would respond to again expand their lead. Elmira rallied to make it a 23-19 game with 4:36 remaining in the first half, but the Panthers would close the half on a 10-3 run to take a 33-22 advantage into the locker rooms.
 
EC briefly cut the deficit to single-digits at the start of the second half, but nine points would be as close as the Purple and Gold would get in the final 20 minutes of play. Pitt-Bradford expanded their lead to 24 points with 2:34 to play and that would be the final margin as the Soaring Eagles fell, 71-47.
 
Elmira will now begin preparing for their early-season roadtrip to Texas for the University of Dallas Tip-Off Classic which will take place on Friday, November 21st and Saturday, November 22nd. EC opens the tournament against the University of Dallas on day one of the event at 7:00 p.m.