Score: Nazareth College 77, Elmira College 63
Records: Nazareth (17-6, 10-4 E8), Elmira (7-17, 4-11 E8)
Location: Kidera Gymnasium – Rochester, NY

Rochester, NY -- A career performance from senior forward Meghan Loya '16 wasn't enough, as the Elmira College women's basketball dropped a 77-63 road contest to Nazareth College on Saturday.

Loya finished 10-for-20 from the field with a career-high 22 points, the first 20-plus point game of her EC career. She also registered team highs in both rebounds with eight and steals with three.

After a slow start, which saw the Soaring Eagles down by 15 at the end of the first quarter, Elmira opened the second quarter with an 11-3 run to come within seven points of the lead at 24-17. Loya netted six of those points for the Purple and Gold during the spurt, which was capped off by a Marissa Silverman '17 three-pointer midway through he second quarter.

Despite a valiant effort from the 5-foot-10 senior from Bethel, CT, who converted a pair of and-one plays in the third quarter, the Golden Flyers would extend the lead to as much as 22 points in the second half.

Turning Point
Although Loya had a career performance on Saturday, so did Nazareth's Lindsey Kelly, the Empire 8 Conference's leading scorer. The senior center scored a career-high 39 points – the most allowed by a single player this season – off of 17-for-26 shooting from the floor. Kelly also collected a game-high 14 rebounds, another single-game high allowed to Elmira's opposition.

Inside the Box

• After being outscored 38-22 in the first half, the Soaring Eagles finished with a 41-39 advantage in the second half.
• Elmira finished with a 40.3 field-goal percentage (27-for-67), while Nazareth held a slight edge at 43.8-percent (28-for-64).
• Naz out-rebounded EC 47-to-32.
• Elmira finished 6-for-8 from the charity stripe; Nazareth went 16-for-19 from the line.
• Loya paced the Soaring Eagles with 22 points and eight rebounds.
• Lindsey Heaton '19 was efficient from the field, shooting 5-for-7 and scoring 12 points to go along with five assists.
• Silverman, Danielle Cleary '18 and Emily Green '18 each scored nine points for EC.
• Naz's Kelly recorded game highs with 39 points and 14 rebounds.
• Samantha Peebles also scored double digits for the Golden Flyers with 10 points.

News and Notes

• Nazareth earned a sweep of the season series with the win.
• Elmira has registered a field-goal percentage above 40.0-percent in three straight games, a season-long streak.
• The EC offense turned the ball over season-low 12 times.
• Loya scored a career-high 22 points. Her previous high this season was 14.
• With eight more rebounds, Loya is now fifth all-time in program history with 586 boards, and needs two more to move into fourth place.
• Heaton has scored double-digit points in consecutive games for the third time in her rookie season.
• The 39 points and 14 rebounds from Naz's Kelly are the most Elmira has surrendered to a player in a single game this season.

Up Next
The Elmira College women's basketball team will end the 2015-16 season on the road next Saturday, February 20th at 4:00 p.m. against Alfred University.