Box Score

Elmira, NY -- Alex Balara '15 had six points in the final 38 seconds which included a perfect 4-for-4 mark from the free throw line as the Elmira College Women's Basketball team defeated visiting Utica College, 79-75, in overtime Saturday afternoon in Speidel Gymnasium. The win improves the Soaring Eagles to 9-16 overall and 4-10 in Empire 8 play, while the loss drops the Pioneers to 12-13 and 7-7.

Elmira led 75-72 after Balara converted a pair of free throws with 38 seconds left. On the ensuing possession Raquel Baudanza drained a three-pointer from the wing to tie it at 75 apiece. With 15 seconds left Balara finished a tough lay-in inside to make it 77-75. The Pioneers missed a shot inside on the other end and Balara sealed the win with two makes from the charity stripe with seven seconds left. 

The Soaring Eagles held as large as a nine point lead at 49-40 with 13:13 remaining in the second half after a Maria Thannhauser '14 jumper. The Pioneers used a 16-5 run over the next eight minutes to take its first lead of the half at 56-54 with 5:28 to play after a Mary Miceli old fashioned three point play.  Over the remainder of regulation there would be three ties and three lead changes. Elmira had a three point lead with 24 seconds left after a basket in the paint from Jessica Zoltowski '14.

Utica called time out and drew up a play to try and tie it. Meghan Fiore passed the ball crosscourt to the left wing where Baudanza stood behind a screen. She drilled the trey to tie the game with just five seconds remaining. After a loose ball went out of bounds near midcourt Liz Forrest '14 inbounded the ball with 0.2 seconds left where Zoltowski attempted to tip it in. There appeared to be contact on the play, but the game went to overtime.

Elmira got out to a quick 12-5 start four minutes into the game behind two baskets from Forrest and a trey from senior Marki Michaels '13, who made the start on Class of 2013 Recognition Day. The Purple and Gold extended to their largest lead of the half at 11, leading 21-10 nearly midway through the period after a Sam Strzepek '15 trey.

EC held a 30-21 lead with 3:04 remaining in the first after a pair of Karli Pochkar '16 free throws, but the Pioneers closed the half on a 7-2 run. The Soaring Eagles led 32-28 at intermission.

Zoltowski finished with a season-high 32 points to go with 10 rebounds two assists and four steals. Balara tallied just her second career double-double recording 12 points and 12 boards, while Forrest added 13 points and eight rebounds.

Miceli paced four Utica scorers in double figures finishing with 26 points and eight rebounds. Baudanza (14) Fiore (11) and Alyssa Filkins also finished in double digits for the Pioneers. The Soaring Eagles shot 56 percent in overtime while Utica converted 43 percent of its shots in the extra period.  Elmira held a 30-22 points in the paint edge while the Pioneers had advantages in points off turnovers (21-11) and bench points (23-13).

Elmira honored Michaels, the only senior on the squad, prior to the contest as this ends the 2012-13 season for EC. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the Elmira College Athletics department by “liking” us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ElmiraCollegeAthletics) and “following” our Twitter account (http://twitter.com/ECSoaringEagles).