Elmira, NY -- The Elmira College women's basketball team nearly pulled-out yet another last-second victory, but their final attempt came up short as EC fell to Nazareth College, 40-39.
Danielle Cleary '18 led the way for Elmira, recording her first double-digit scoring game in three weeks with 17 points.
Cleary filled up the stat sheet this afternoon as she added five rebounds, four assists, four steals and two blocks to her 17 points. Behind Cleary was
Alex Balara '15, who on her senior day, scored 14 points, grabbed six rebounds, and added two steals.
The Soaring Eagles got off to a fast start in today's contest, thanks to aggressive and efficient play from Cleary. Cleary scored nine of Elmira's first 13 points, helping the Purple and Gold take a 13-6 lead just over five minutes into the game. A Nazareth layup on their next possession made it 13-8, which is what the scoreboard would read for the next six minutes as neither team was able to record another point until Cleary scored a layup with 8:01 left in the first half.
That basket propelled a 7-0 Soaring Eagle run that extended Elmira's lead to 20-8. But the Golden Flyers did not go away, using increased defensive pressure to chip away at their deficit. Nazareth would use an 11-2 run of their own to make it a 22-19 game with 1:34 to play in the opening half. Three points would be the halftime advantage as Elmira led 24-21 after 20 minutes of play.
The low-scoring affair continued in the second half as the teams combined for just 34 points. EC maintained their slim advantage through the first five minutes of the second half, but Nazareth would get their first lead of the afternoon, at 27-26, with a layup by Veronica Peck. The lead then exchanged hands several times, but neither Nazareth nor Elmira created much distance as the largest lead of the entire second half was just three points.
The teams traded baskets, as well as one-point leads, over the final 6:46 of the contest. Another Cleary layup gave the Soaring Eagles a one-point lead with 1:50 to go, but Nazareth's Lindsey Kelly put the Golden Flyers back in front, 40-39, on the next possession. Elmira had a few chances down the stretch to retake the lead, including one last chance in the final 10 seconds of the game, but they were unsuccessful as the Soaring Eagles fell 40-39.
EC returns to action on Monday, February 9th against Penn College in a game that was rescheduled from last week. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. in Speidel Gymnasium.
