Score: Case Western Reserve University 81, Elmira College 65
Records: Case Western Reserve (1-3), Elmira (0-3)
Location: McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex– Alliance, OH

Alliance, OH-- The Case Western Reserve University women's basketball team pieced together a strong second-quarter performance en route to a 16-point victory over Elmira College in the consolation game of the M-Club Classic, hosted by the University of Mount Union.

The Soaring Eagles and Spartans played to a 19-19 tie through the first quarter of the neutral site contest, but Case Western netted the first nine points of the second quarter to take an insurmountable lead. Case's Jessica McCoy scored back-to-back layups, followed by a trey and layup from Alex Roth, resulting in a 28-19 advantage.

The two teams traded three-pointers midway through the second quarter. Lindsey Heaton '19 drained a trey to make it a six-point game, 30-24, but Hillary Hellmann answered back to extend the Spartans' lead back to nine points. Danielle Cleary '18 then sandwiched a pair of her own three-pointers around one from Jessica McCoy, resulting in a 36-30 Case lead.

The Purple and Gold were hot from beyond the arc early in the contest, but after starting 7-for-11, EC finished 0-for-7, and missed all five three-pointers in the second half.

Case Western led 46-34 at the halftime intermission and carried the momentum into the third quarter. The Spartans opened the period on a 10-4 run to jump out to an 18-point advantage, and a three-pointer from Darby Kreienberg with less than four minutes left in the quarter gave Case its largest lead of the game at 19 points.

The Spartans maintained a comfortable cushion in the final quarter; the Soaring Eagles could only manage to reduce Case Western's lead to as little as 13 points in the fourth.

Cleary finished with a game-high 20 points and is now averaging 18.0 per game to start her sophomore season. The Rochester, NY, native also had her best night of the season from three-point land, finishing 3-for-6. After scoring a career-best 19 points in the M-Club Classic opener against Mount Union, Heaton scored 12 in addition to a season-high five assists. Meghan Loya '16 finished one point shy of her first double-double of her senior season, as she scored nine points and hauled in a game-high 14 boards.

Case Western received double-digit points from four of its five starters, led by 17 from Kara Hageman and 16 apiece from McCoy and Roth.

Turning Point
After playing to a 19-19 tie through the first 10 minutes of play, the Soaring Eagles watched the Spartans open the second quarter on a momentous 9-0 run, giving them the lead for good. Overall, EC was outscored 27-15 in the second quarter, shooting only 5-for-14 from the field and turning the ball over six times in the frame.

Inside the Box

• Cleary led all scorers with 20 points and a trio of three-pointers.
• Heaton scored 12 points and dished out a game-high five assists.
• Loya led all players with 14 rebounds.
• Madison Carolus '18 recorded two blocked shots and two steals to lead Elmira in both categories.
• Hageman (17), McCoy (16), Roth (16), Hellmann (12) and Kreienberg (12) all scored double-digit points for Case Western.
• Both teams hovered around 43 percent from the field; EC went 23-for-54 (42.6 percent) and the Spartans finished 31-for-72 (43.1 percent).

News and Notes

• Clearly scored 20-plus points in consecutive games for the second time of her career.
• She also ranks second in the Empire 8 Conference in points per game with 18.0.
• Elmira's 42.6 field goal percentage and seven made three-pointers marked season highs in both categories.
• Loya's 14 rebounds are the most she's collected in a single game since grabbing 15 against Hartwick College on February 14, 2015.
• Loya now leads the Empire 8 in rebounds per game with 10.3, three-tenths more than Cleary and Alfred University's Amanda Off in second place.
• Elmira has surrendered over 70 points in all three games this season, but only did so five times in 2014-15.

Up Next
Elmira College returns to Speidel Gymnasium on Tuesday, November 24th, when the Soaring Eagles host Hilbert College in their 2015-16 home opener, beginning at 5:00 p.m.