Box Score  | HTML Box Score 

Elmira, NY -- After watching their 16-point halftime lead turn into a nine point deficit with less than 10 minutes to play, the Elmira College women's basketball team used a 19-4 run over the final seven-plus minutes of the game to pull out a 59-53 win over Clarkson University.

Jessica Zoltowski '14 led all players with 25 points on 9-17 shooting and picked up eight rebounds on the afternoon. With the 25-point effort, Zoltowski upped her career point total to 1,211 vaulting her into second place in Elmira College history in points scored. Also contributing a double-digit scoring effort was Maria Thannhauser '14 who chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds. Meghan Loya '16 nearly recorded her first double-double of the year, but came up one short in both points (9) and rebounds (9). 

The Soaring Eagles came out of the gate strong as the women scored the opening basket and never looked back. Clarkson cut the Elmira lead to one early on, at 7-6, but that would be as close as they would get in the opening stanza as the Purple and Gold closed the half on a 22-7 run to take a 16-point lead into the locker room. The Soaring Eagles shot a blistering 55.6 percent from behind the arc, while EC's 16th nationally-ranked three-point defense kept Clarkson from connecting on any of their 12 three-point attempts.

The second half was a different story, as the Golden Knights opened on a 26-9 run to take their first lead of the game with 10:36 to play. Clarkson stretched their lead out to nine points with under eight minutes on the clock, but it was all EC from there on out. Elmira's big run was a three-headed attack as the three senior captains, Zoltowski, Thannhauser, and Liz Forrest '14 scored all 19 points over the final 7:37.

Thannhauser got things going with a three-pointer from the corner and a bucket by Forrest with three minutes to play tied the game at 49. The game saw one additional tie, but the Soaring Eagles took the lead for good with 1:45 to play following a Zoltowski layup. EC hit three of their four free throws in the final 29 seconds to seal the 59-53 victory.

For the third game in a row, the Purple and Gold shot better than 40 percent from behind the arc and the third time in four games that EC has held its opponent to less than 20 percent from distance. Elmira scored 21 points off 18 Clarkson turnovers and received 10 points from the bench.

The Soaring Eagles will play one more time before winter break as the women travel to take on Penn Tech on Saturday, December 14th. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.