Elmira, NY -- The Elmira College women's basketball team held a three-point lead with over a minute and a half to play, but the Soaring Eagles would fall at the buzzer as Rutgers-Camden downed EC, 54-52, on a last-second layup. Alex Balara'15, with her father sitting on the opposing bench, scored 16 points to lead the Purple and Gold.
 
Balara, who was one of three EC players in double-figure points, also recorded seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals in a stat-stuffing effort. Meghan Loya '16 chipped in 12 points and 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. Rounding-out the double-digit scorers for EC was Karli Pochkar '16 who scored 10 points and pulled down eight rebounds.
 
Elmira trailed from the opening tip as the Scarlet Raptors scored the game's first six points in just under two minutes of play. EC would settle in and make it a one-point game, 8-7, at the 15:45 mark, but Rutgers-Camden would stretch their lead out to seven points for the first of three times at 16-9. The Scarlet Raptors led 20-13 with 7:43 to play, but the Soaring Eagles closed the half on a 13-8 run to trail by just two, 28-26, at the half.
 
Rutgers-Camden started the second half strong, scoring eight of the first 10 points of the half to take a 36-28 lead, the largest advantage held by either team in tonight's game. Balara helped spark a 7-0 run, scoring five points and assisting on the other basket during the stretch, to make it just a 36-35 game with 13:33 left in regulation. The Soaring Eagles finally took their first lead of the game, 41-39, with 10:12 to play on a Loya jumper.
 
Elmira would hold that lead for the next nine minutes until a banked-in three-pointer from Rutgers-Camden's Alex Gravinese tied the game at 50 with 1:22 on the clock. Kamari Talley put the Scarlet Raptors on top 52-50 with only 45 seconds left, but Pochkar answered 14 seconds later with a layup to knot the game up at 52. Talley missed a jumper with 17 seconds left, giving EC a chance to win, but a turnover with six seconds on the clock gave the Scarlet Raptors one final opportunity. Coming out of a timeout, Rutgers-Camden got a layup down low that missed off the backboard, but Tanjae Lewis put the rebound in as time expired to lift the Scarlet Raptors to victory.
 
EC returns to action Friday night when they open Empire 8 Conference play at Ithaca College. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.