Williamsport, PA – The Elmira College Women's Basketball team cruised to a 83-31 victory as all 11 players scored Tuesday night in a 83-31 non-conference win against host Penn Tech. The win improves the Soaring Eagles to 4-9 overall, while the loss drops the Wildcats to 1-12.

The Purple and Gold defense was gritty in the opening half as it tallied 16 steals and forced the Wildcats to turn the ball over 25 times. Five minutes into the contest Elmira led 10-6. Over the remainder of the period EC outscored Penn Tech 37-11 to blow open a 47-17 halftime advantage, in large part to 13 offensive rebounds. Alex Balara '15 (Marlton, NJ -- Cloucester Catholic) led all scorers in the opening half, while Jessica Zoltowski '14 (Erie, PA -- Harbor Creek) and Liz Forrest '14 (North Walpole, NH -- Fall Mountain) contributed nine and eight points, respectively. All 11 Soaring Eagle players saw action in the opening stanza.

EC continued to put on the pressure defensively in the second half as it forced 14 more Wildcat turnovers while limiting its own turnovers to just six. The Soaring Eagles also began to find their stroke from distance, shooting 4-for-6 in the final 20 minutes. Balara, Marki Michaels '13 (Manchester, NY -- Midlakes), Sam Strzepek '15 (Rome, NY -- Rome Catholic) and Kelsey Geisler '15 (Staten Island, NY -- St. Peter's) all drained treys.

Elmira shot 39 percent from the field in the game, while holding Penn Tech to 19 percent shooting. EC finished with 21 steals, while forcing 39 Wildcat turnovers, which led to 38 points off turnovers. The Purple and Gold were effective in the paint where they held a 28-6 advantage, and also held a distinctive advantage in second-chance points (25-8), and bench scoring (33-2). The EC defense held the Wildcats to a season-low 31 points.

Balara led the Soaring Eagle attack as she finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Alexis Perryman '15 (Queensbury, NY -- Queensbury), Zoltowski, Forrest and Maria Thannhauser '14 (Newfield, NY -- Newfield) all finished in double figures in the scoring column for EC. Breen Loney '15 (West Chesterfield, NH -- Keene) was a force on the glass as she finished with 10 boards, while Forrest added nine rebounds to her 10 points. Kierstin Steer led the Wildcats as the lone scorer in double digits, as she finished with 11 points.

The Elmira College Women's Basketball team returns to conference action, Friday, when they visit St. John Fisher for a 6:00 p.m. tip.