Irving, TX -- The Elmira College women's basketball team wrapped-up play at the University of Dallas Tip-Off Classic with a victory, defeating Centenary College of Louisiana, 73-64. EC had four players score in double-figures with rookie talent
Danielle Cleary'18 pouring in a career-high 17 points to lead all Elmira players.
Also turning in double-digit efforts were
Madison Carolus'18, who scored 15 points off the bench,
Meghan Loya'16, who nearly completed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds, and
Karli Pochkar '16, who added 12 points. Elmira, once again, assisted on more than half of their field goals, totaling 16 assists on the afternoon. Loya led the team with five assists, while Cleary and
Kelsey Geisler '15 added four each.
EC controlled the game from the opening tip, leading for all but 2:02 of the game. Additionally, the Soaring Eagles only trailed once this afternoon and for just 15 seconds early on in the first half. Elmira opened the game on an 8-2 run, but an 8-0 run from Centenary put the Ladies on top, 10-8 with 14:42 remaining in the first half. That would be the only time that Elmira would trail in the game as back-to-back baskets from EC's two forwards, Pochkar and Loya, put the Soaring Eagles back on top, 12-10.
From there on out it was all Purple and Gold as EC went on a 13-5 run to make it a 10-point game, the first double-digit lead of the contest. Elmira's lead hovered around 10 points for the remainder of the half as the Soaring Eagles took a 37-30 advantage into the locker rooms.
It was much of the same coming out after halftime as EC used an 8-0 run to break open a 15-point lead, Elmira's largest of the day. Centenary cut their deficit to nine on a few occasions, but each time, EC answered to push it back into double-digits. In total, the Purple and Gold led by double-figures for nearly 19 minutes of the second half as they rolled to a 73-64 victory.
Elmira will have a short turnaround after returning from Texas as they are back in action on Tuesday, November 25th when they travel to take on Hilbert College at 5:00 p.m.
