Elmira College (3-7, 0-1 Empire 8) vs. St. John Fisher College (7-2, 0-0 Empire 8)
Friday, January 8, 2016 | 8:00 P.M. | Speidel Gymnasium – Elmira, NY
Live Coverage | Twitter: @ECSoaringEagles | Game Notes
 
Elmira College (3-7, 0-1 Empire 8) vs. Nazareth College (7-3, 0-1 Empire 8)
Saturday, January 9, 2016 | 7:00 P.M. | Speidel Gymnasium – Elmira, NY
Live Coverage | Twitter: @ECSoaringEagles | Game Notes
 
Elmira, NY -- The Elmira College women's basketball team will look to get back in the win column when it continues its three-game homestand to open Empire 8 Conference play with a weekend back-to-back against St. John Fisher College and Nazareth College on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
 
Last Time Out
Elmira will be looking to bounce back from its most recent setback, a 15-point loss at home to the Ducks of Stevens Institute of Technology. Stevens took control of Monday's game fairly early, as the Ducks took a 20-5 lead after the game's first 10 minutes of action. The Ducks would eventually turn their 15-point first quarter lead into a 25-point halftime lead. Elmira cleaned things up a bit in the second half and eventually outscored Stevens 35-25 in the final 20 minutes, but it proved to be too little too late, as the Ducks marched away with a 70-55 win.
 
Loya Closes In
Meghan Loya '16 has had a great year thus far on the boards, something that is not out of the ordinary for the fourth-year forward. She has pulled down a team-leading 87 rebounds this season for a per game average of 8.7. Loya's 87 boards puts her career total at 484, just 18 rebounds shy of moving into a two-way tie for 10th place in the EC record books. Additionally, if Loya grabs 12 more rebounds, she will become just the sixth Elmira player to register 500 or more boards since 2000.
 
Limiting Turnovers
Elmira faced a tough defense in Stevens this past Monday, a team that is averaging 19.1 turnovers per contest this year. Elmira committed 24 turnovers in the contest, marking the seventh time this season the Purple and Gold have made 20 or more. Elmira is 1-6 this season in such contests.
 
Still Atop the E8
Although Danielle Cleary '18 has had back-to-back games with point totals below her season average, the second-year guard remains one of the conference's top scorers this season. Through Elmira's first 10 games, Cleary is averaging 18.7 points per game, which is tied for the E8 lead with Alfred University's Amanda Off.
 
Becoming the Complete Player
Following a breakout freshman season, one that culminated in an Empire 8 Rookie of the Year nod, Cleary has started to show glimpses of the complete player she is striving to be. The Rochester, NY, native already has 82 rebounds through the team's first 10 games, just 11 boards shy of tying her season total a year ago. Cleary has also improved at the free-throw line, turning a sub-par .686 free-throw percentage in 2014-15 into a solid .853 percentage this year.
 
Silverman Shows Promise
Third-year guard Marissa Silverman '17 played the most minutes of her collegiate career against Stevens, as the South Windsor, CT, native saw 23 minutes of action. In those 23 minutes, Silverman produced eight points on 4-of-6 shooting (66.7%) and pulled down a career-high five rebounds.
 
Second Half Team
Elmira has struggled a bit in the opening two quarters of games this season, averaging 27.7 points, while its second-half point production sits at 33.4. Opposing teams on the other hand are averaging 36.3 points in the game's opening 20 minutes.
 
All-Time Series: St. John Fisher
St. John Fisher has gotten the better of Elmira over the years with a 50-13 record in the all-time series. However, recent history has been a bit more even between the two squads, with the Cardinals winning three of the last five meetings. EC's last win against the Cardinals dates back to the 2013-14 season, when the Purple and Gold eked out a two-point win at Speidel Gymnasium.
 
Scouting the Cardinals
St. John Fisher College enters tonight's matchup with a 7-2 overall record, as the Cardinals open conference play against the Soaring Eagles. Fisher opened the season with five straight wins, before suffering a pair of losses at the Wendy's College Classic. However, the Cardinals have bounced back nicely since then with  a pair of double-digit wins in their last two contests, including a 101-65 drubbing of Medaille College last Saturday. Fisher leads the Empire 8 in scoring with 74.3 points per game and sit atop the conference leaderboard in rebounding defense, limiting opposing teams to 33.7 rebounds per game. Offensively, all eyes will be on Mary Kate Cusak, who leads the Cardinals with a 14.9 point per game average.
 
All-Time Series: Nazareth 
Elmira and Nazareth College have faced each other 60 times dating back to their first meeting in 1974-75. The Golden Flyers have enjoyed their fair share of success in those matchups with a 40-20 record. Nazareth has won two straight against Elmira, but the last four meetings have been even with each team earning a pair of victories.
 
Scouting the Golden Flyers
Nazareth opened the 2015-16 campaign with four straight double-digit wins, before suffering its first two losses of the season at the Wendy's College Classic. The Golden Flyers bounced back with three consecutive wins, but fell in their most recent contest to Ithaca College, bringing Nazareth's record to 7-3 on the year. Much of Nazareth's success this season can be attributed to its ability to shoot the three-ball. The Golden Flyers have knocked-down a conference-leading 85 three-pointers this season, averaging 8.5 per contest, which ranks seventh in NCAA Division III Women's Basketball. Although Nazareth shoots the ball well from distance, it is also just as good inside. Six-foot center Lindsey Kelly leads the Golden Flyers with 18.6 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.
 
Looking Ahead
Tonight's contest against the Golden Flyers marks the end of a four-game homestand for the Elmira women. The Soaring Eagles return to action next Tuesday, January 12th, when the Purple and Gold make the short trip up Route 13 to take on the Bombers of Ithaca College.