ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College women's basketball team eyes its second Empire 8 Conference win in a row, when it travels to face Alfred University on Thursday, January 19th, at 6:00 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT: The Soaring Eagles earned their first conference win of the season when they defeated Houghton College, 65-62, on Tuesday, January 17th. Elmira used a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback to pull the game in its favor. Lindsey Heaton '19 started the run at the 4:16 mark of the fourth quarter with her only 3-point attempt of the game to pull EC within one point, 55-54. Rookie Lauren Franklin '20 followed Heaton's shot with a layup a minute later that gave the Soaring Eagles their first lead since the first quarter, 56-55. Danielle Cleary '18 made two clutch buckets in the final two minutes to keep the EC advantage at three points. With 26 seconds left and Elmira clinging to a one-point lead, Rachel Vespucci '19 calmly stepped to the charity stripe and sank two free throws to seal the E8 victory.

VESPUCCI CONTINUES AMAZING RUN: With 15 points and her second 18-rebound game of the season on Tuesday, Vespucci posted her third-straight double-double and the seventh of her sophomore campaign. The 5-foot-9-inch forward matched her streak of three straight games with at least 10 points and 10 rebounds from earlier this season. Prior to this year, the last Soaring Eagles to complete this accomplishment was former Empire 8 Player of the Year, Jennifer Parker '06, in the 2003-04 season. Vespucci also became the first EC player to record seven double-doubles in a season since Erin Rupell '11 posted seven in the 2009-10 season. Vespucci also averages a conference-leading 11.0 rebounds per game. If she were finish the season with a rebounds per game average of 10.0 greater, she would be the first Soaring Eagle to accomplish that feat in over 15 seasons. 

CLEARY CLIMBS RECORD BOOKS: With 21 points against the Highlanders, Cleary has now scored 935 points in her EC career. With five points against the Saxons on Thursday, she will pass Missy Richvalsky '02 (939) for eighth place on the program's all-time scoring list. With 23 points she will climb all the way to seventh place, surpassing Mary Carole Starke '83 (957). Reaching the 20-point plateau has been an important benchmark for Elmira's success, as Cleary has tallied at least 20 points in eight of EC's 12 wins in the last two seasons.

SCOUTING ALFRED: The Saxons enter Thursday's meeting riding an 11-game losing streak. After some early season success, with wins in two out of the first four games, Alfred's current slide has dropped its overall record to 2-13. The Saxons have struggled to stay in contention in their losses, as 12 of their 13 losses have come by 10 or more points. Alfred has struggled mightily in E8 play, as its conference record sits at 0-6 and its average margin of defeat in those contests is a over 25 points. On the bright side, senior forward Amanda Off has played very well this season, as she leads the team in points (16.1), rebounds (8.1) and field goal percentage (44.8). All of these numbers rank well in the conference, as she ranks third in both points and field goal percentage, and fifth in rebounds per game. Freshman guard Jamie Wilcox has also seen success in her rookie campaign, as the Pine Valley, New York, native is second on the team in both points (11.3) and assists (2.1), and third in rebounds (4.0) per game.

SERIES HISTORY: Elmira has dominated the all-time series against the Saxons, as EC enters Thursday's contest riding an eight-game win streak over Alfred and holds a lopsided 34-19 advantage in the all-time series. The last Alfred victory came in the season finale of the 2011-12 season. Cleary led the way for Elmira in last season's matchup at Alfred's Terry S. Galanis Family Arena, as she led all scorers with 24 points and grabbed six boards.

UP NEXT: Elmira returns home to Speidel Gymnasium for an E8 tilt against Ithaca College on Saturday, January 21st. The game is scheduled to start at 2:00 p.m.