ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College women's basketball team travels to Houghton College's Nielsen Center to face the Highlanders in Empire 8 Conference action tonight at 6:00 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT: The Soaring Eagles fell, 65-51, at the hands of conference foe Utica College on Saturday, January 14th at Speidel Gymnasium. Elmira got out of the gates quickly, as it used a hot opening quarter to take a 16-11 lead. Danielle Cleary '18 led the early charge with five points and capped off a 7-0 run near the end of the first with a trey that gave Elmira a five-point lead, its largest of the game. Unfortunately for EC, the Pioneers' offense started to pick up in the second, as Utica outscored the Soaring Eagles, 16-6, in the quarter to take a 27-22 halftime lead. Utica's offensive aggression continued into the third, as the Pioneers grew the lead to as many as 17 points near the end of the quarter. 

VESPUCCI THE DOUBLE-DOUBLE MACHINE: Sophomore forward Rachel Vespucci '19 finished the matchup against Utica with 10 points and 11 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season. The 5-foot-9-inch Soaring Eagle has been a monster in the paint all season, as she remains one of three players in the E8 with a double-double average, along with Megan Brown of Stevens Institute of Technology and Jacqui Foreman of Hartwick College. Vespucci also sits just one-tenth of a point behind Brown for the conference lead in rebounds per game (10.4).

HEATON'S STRONG GAME: Sophomore guard Lindsey Heaton '19 also posted strong statistics in the Utica contest, with 13 points and six assists. Heaton's six assists are tied for the second most that she has posted in a game this season. Another noteworthy stat of the game was that she tied a season low with two turnovers. In the last two seasons, the Soaring Eagles have won seven games when Heaton commits four or less turnovers. Heaton's four-plus turnover margin is also the largest of her career.  

SCOUTING HOUGHTON: The Highlanders enter today's contest riding a season-long three-game losing streak, after loses to Stevens and Hartwick College in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday. After this recent turbulence, Houghton's overall record fell to 7-6 and its conference record dipped to 1-3. Despite their struggles in conference play, the Highlanders have been in most of their E8 matchups, as three of Houghton's four conference games have been decided by five points or less. One of the Highlanders' strengths this season has been on the boards, as Houghton ranks second in the conference in rebounding margin (4.8) and has three players in the top-11 of the conference in rebounds per game. Senior guard Elle Reed paces the program's offense with 16.1 ppg tied for second in the E8. Reed has been especially efficient from the foul line, as her conference-leading free-throw percentage (90.9) also ranks fifth in the country.

SERIES HISTORY: Today's meeting will mark the 24th time that the two programs have squared off. Elmira has dominated the series of late, winning the last seven contests. In last season's matchup at the Nielsen Center, Emily Green '18 led the way for the Purple and Gold with a season-high 18 points. Cleary also played well in last season's series, as she averaged 15.5 points and 6.0 rebounds per game in the two contests. 

UP NEXT: EC travels to Alfred University for Empire 8 Conference play on Thursday, January 19th. The matchup between the Saxons and the Soaring Eagles is scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m.