Score: Bridgewater College (Va.) 74 – Elmira College 64
Records: Bridgewater (1-1), Elmira (0-2)
Location: Ragan-Brown Field House – Greensboro, N.C.
 
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The Elmira College women's basketball team's late comeback attempt fell just short as the Soaring Eagles fell to Bridgewater College, 74-64, in their first game of the Guilford Classic, hosted by Guilford College, on Saturday afternoon.

Stud guards Lindsey Heaton '19 and Danielle Cleary '18 paced Elmira in today's contest. Cleary fell just one rebound short of a double-double, finishing the game with a team-high 21 points and a game-high-tying nine rebounds. The reigning Empire 8 Conference Rookie of the Year Heaton scored a season-best 17 points and added four rebounds and five assists.

Neither program got off to a good start in the first half of play, with both teams shooting under 35-percent for the first 20 minutes, Elmira went 12-for-41 (29.3-percent) and Bridgewater shot 11-for-32 (34.4-percent).  This uneven play resulted in both teams struggling in the first quarter; with the Eagles taking a 13-9 lead after 10 minutes of play.

In the second, the play started to improve, with both programs trading buckets for the quarter. The Purple and Gold fought back to only lose the quarter, 20-18, making the halftime deficit a manageable 33-27.

Both programs came back from the halftime break playing evenly, with neither team taking control of the game. Both programs scored an identical 19 points in the third.   

After three quarters of play, the Eagles entered the fourth with a 52-46 lead. The Purple and Gold started to chip away at the lead, pulling the deficit to 65-62 with 2:50 left to play after Cleary sunk two crucial free-throws. Unfortunately for Elmira, this is the closest that the score would get for the rest of the contest.

Bridgewater would hit seven of their last 10 free-throw attempts in the final three minutes to secure the double-digit victory.

Turning Point
The biggest downfall for EC was the bench-points differential. Bridgewater finished the matchup with 16 points from its bench, while the Soaring Eagles had zero. The Purple and Gold had only two woman play off of the bench in the contest, while the Eagles had six. By the end of the game Elmira's starters seemed to be tired, resulting in the Soaring Eagles only making one field-goal in the final 3:45 of play. Elmira will need production off its bench to help give the starters more of a rest as the season continues.

Inside the Box Score

• The Soaring Eagles shot 25-for-69 (36.2 %) from the field for the game, as Bridgewater went 25-for-64 (39.1 %).
• The Eagles went 3-for-6 (50.0 %) from three-point range in the matchup, while Elmira shot 3-for-15 (20.0 %) from distance.
• The Eagles out-rebounded the Purple and Gold 51-to-40.
• Bridgewater out-assisted the Soaring Eagles 15-to-11.
• In terms of bench points, the Eagles out-scored EC 16-to-0.
• Cleary posted a team-high 21 points and a game-high-tying nine rebounds.
• Heaton played a complete style of basketball, as she recorded a season-high 17 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists.
• Emily Green '18 tallied 12 points and a career-best seven rebounds.
• Bridgewater's Jessica Lam (23 points) and Briana Moore (20 points) were the Eagles' leading scorers.
• Allie Coburn tallied 12 points and a game-high-tying nine rebounds off Bridgewater's bench.

News and Notes

• Today's matchup marks just the second time that these programs have met, with Bridgewater taking both contests.
• The Purple and Gold fall to (0-2) for the third season in a row.
• Heaton's 17 points are the most for the sophomore since her 19-point game against the University of Mount Union last November.
• Cleary now has 47 points through the first two games of the season, the most by any Soaring Eagle since Marcia Coakley '09 scored 56 in the first two games of the 2006-07 season.
• Green's seven rebounds are a new career-best mark, one more than her previous high of six.

Up Next
Elmira will challenge the host Guilford College Quakers in its second game of the Guilford Classic tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.