Elmira, NY -- The Elmira College women's basketball team (4-7, 1-3 E8) held an 11 point lead with nine minutes remaining in the second half but a ferocious 21-10 Utica College (5-8, 1-3 E8) run resulted in a 66-60 loss for the Soaring Eagles.  Elmira had a pair of players finish with double figures, including Karli Pochkar '16 who scored a season-high 21 points and pulled down eight rebounds.  Rookie Danielle Cleary '18 was EC's other double digit scorer with 13 points. 
 
Utica led by as many as seven in the first half but the Soaring Eagles closed out the half on a 14-4 run to take a slim 28-25 lead into the halftime break.  Kelsey Geisler '15 and Pochkar fueled Elmira's run as the duo combined for 11 of EC's 14 points, five coming from Geisler and six from Pochkar.
 
Fouls played a large role in shaping the outcome of the first half as the two teams were called for a combined 26 personal fouls, 14 by Elmira and 12 by Utica.  However, it would be the Pioneers who would have the chance to benefit most from those fouls as they visited the charity stripe 18 times to Elmira's seven.  Thankfully for the Soaring Eagles, the Pioneers struggled from the line, knocking down just nine of their 18 first half attempts.
 
Elmira's lead would hover around five points through the first five minutes of the second half, peaking as high as seven points. However, the Soaring Eagles would build that lead to 46-33 with 11:54 to play thanks to a 9-0 run that stretched a little over three minutes. 
 
The Soaring Eagles' lead looked as though it would hold up through the end of tonight's game but a 15-4 run by Utica cut EC's lead to 50-48 with just 5:40 to play.  Elmira would build their lead to four points on two occasions from that point on but a pesky Pioneer squad refused to go away and eventually tied the game at 55-55 with 2:36 left in regulation.
 
On the next possession, EC's Meghan Loya '16 would miss a contested jumper which would be followed by a Utica layup as the Pioneers took their first lead of the game since the 2:50 mark of the first half. To make things worse, Utica would force a turnover on the ensuing inbounds pass which led to a three-point play for Ashley Mayo, putting the Pioneers ahead 60-55 with 1:48 to play.
 
Utica stretched their lead to as many as six points in the final 1:48 but back-to-back layups from Alex Balara '15 and Cleary trimmed the Pioneer lead to 62-60 with 22 seconds to play.  On the following inbounds play, EC used their full court press to deny Utica the inbounds pass, forcing the Pioneers to take a timeout. 
 
Coming out the timeout, Elmira once again setup their full court press but a football style pass over the top of several EC defenders found its way to Utica's Mary Miceli who was able to take it in for an uncontested layup, pushing the Pioneer lead to 64-60.
 
With 12 seconds remaining, Cleary launched a three-ball in hopes of making it a one point game.  Her attempt would fall short with the rebound going to Miceli, forcing Elmira to commit a foul, sending Miceli to the line where she knocked down both attempts, sealing Utica's 66-60 win. 
 
The Soaring Eagles will look to bounce back tomorrow when the Elmira women host Houghton College for another Empire 8 Conference game.  Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Elmira's Speidel Gymnasium.