Elmira, NY – The Soaring Eagles Women's Basketball team looked to pick up another Empire 8 win tonight as they hosted the Pioneers of Utica College. EC is coming off a tough loss to Alfred University while Utica enters today's game after dropping a 3-point contest to St. John Fisher College.
The Pioneers jumped out to an early 12 point lead as they pressured EC in the backcourt with a stifling full court press. Elmira would settle in to cut the lead to 5 points with the score at 19-14 as they went on a 9-to-2 run. Utica would respond back with a 12-2 run of their own to push their lead to 15 points. Elmira's Maria Thannhauser '14 (Newfield, NY -- Newfield) would put an end to the run with two free throws, bringing the score to 31-18. The half would close out with each team scoring 9 points, bringing the halftime score to 40-27 in favor of the Pioneers. The Utica duo of Meghan Fiore '13 and Jessica Berry '11 paced the Pioneers as they combined for 29 points and 10 rebounds. Becca Fretz '11 (Kunkletown, PA -- Pleasant Valley) led Elmira in the first half with 13 points and 5 boards.
The Soaring Eagles would open the second half with a 13-5 run cutting the Utica lead to just 5 points at the 16:15 mark. This would be as close as Elmira would get to Utica as the Pioneers would hold EC to just 12 points for the remainder of the game, leading to a 87-52 finish in favor of Utica.
Fretz led Elmira with 17 points and 8 boards while Thannhauser chipped in another 14 points. Elmira will look to comeback strong as they travel to take on the Ducks of Stevens Tech. on Friday, February 18th. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
Elmira 52 Utica 87
Box Score