Box Score

Elmira, NY – The Elmira College Women's Basketball team used a strong shooting performance and balanced scoring attack to cruise past visiting Houghton, 63-45, Tuesday evening in Speidel Gymnasium. The win improves the Soaring Eagles to 6-11 overall, while the loss drops the Highlanders to 8-8.

Elmira got off to a quick 12-6 start three and a half minutes in capped by two treys from Kelsey Geisler '15. Houghton brought the deficit within 29-23 with four minutes left in the half, but Elmira closed the stanza on a 6-0 run to take a commanding, 35-23 lead into intermission. Jessica Zoltowski '14 and Maria Thannhauser '14  led EC with nine points apiece as Elmira shot 45 percent from the field compared to just 33 percent for the Highlanders.    

Halfway through the second half the Soaring Eagles blew open a 17 point lead as five different players scored at least a basket in the 10 minute span. Down the stretch the Highlanders were only able to get within 13, while Elmira ballooned the lead to as many as 20, as they cruised to a 63-45 victory.

Zoltowski paced Elmira with a game-high 15 points and eight rebounds, while Thannhauser added 12 points and six assists. Liz Forrest '14 tallied nine points and six rebounds, while Meghan Loya '16 recorded eight points and six rebounds. Geisler added eight in the scoring column, converting on two of her five three-point attempts. Kaitlin Hammersley and Kaitlyn Gaffney paced the Highlander attack with 14 and 11 points, respectively.

Elmira shot 50 percent from the field in the contest including 37 percent from downtown. Meanwhile, Houghton converted on just 33 percent of its shot attempts and did not make a single attempt from long distance. EC held a 40-30 advantage in rebounds and an 11-6 edge in bench points, while the Highlanders controlled points in the paint, 34-26.

The EC Women's Basketball team returns to action Friday when it hosts Hartwick College starting at 6:00 p.m. in Speidel Gymnasium.