Box Score

Elmira, NY – The Elmira College Women's Basketball team had two opportunities to tie the game on the final possession but could not get the shots to fall as they fell to visiting, Stevens Institute of Technology, 69-66, Saturday afternoon in Speidel Gymnasium. The win improves the Ducks to 9-9 overall and 6-4 in Empire 8 play, while the loss drops the Soaring Eagles to 6-13 and 1-7.

Maria Thannhauser '14 paced Elmira with 22 points, while Jessica Zoltowski '14 and Alex Balara '15 added 14 and 10 points, respectively. 

The second half was a tight affair with the visitors controlling a majority of the half extending its lead to as many as nine points on multiple occasions. The Ducks led by eight at 65-57 with 1:55 remaining. EC used a 9-3 run to trim the deficit to 68-66 with 28 seconds left after a pair of Kelsey Geisler '15 free throws. Stevens split a pair of free throws and Elmira got two good looks from downtown on its final possession but couldn't find the bottom of the net.

The two teams swapped leads in the opening half with Elmira leading by as many as 10 and Stevens by as much as seven. The Soaring Eagles held a six point advantage at 35-29 at intermission.

Avis Benjamin paced Stevens with a game-high 24 points, while Dylan Krause and Molly Spadaro added 15 and 13 points, respectively. Elmira had 26 more shot attempts than the Ducks, but that was offset by 29 percent shooting for EC compared to 47 percent shooting for Stevens. The Ducks also held a big advantage in free throw shooting as they shot 26-for-32, while EC went 19-for-27.

The EC Women's Basketball team returns to action Friday when it hosts St. John Fisher College at 6:00 p.m. as a part of Athletics Alumni Weekend.