Elmira vs. Berry College (Ga.)
Game Details	Wednesday, Dec. 20 | St. Petersburg, Fla. | 11:00 a.m.
Game Coverage	Live Stats: Stats Link
Berry Links	Roster | Schedule | Stats

Elmira vs. Ohio Wesleyan University
Game Details	Thursday, Dec. 21 | St. Petersburg, Fla. | 1:00 p.m.
Game Coverage	Live Stats: Stats Link
Ohio Wesleyan Links	Roster | Schedule | Stats

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College women's basketball team headed south to St. Petersburg, Florida, looking to extend its undefeated streak to start the 2017-18 campaign with a pair of non-conference matchups at the D3 St. Pete Classic, hosted on the campus of Eckerd College. The Soaring Eagles open the tournament with an 11:00 a.m. bout against the Vikings of Berry (Ga.) on Wednesday, December 20, and will take on Ohio Wesleyan on Thursday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT
EC improved to 7-0 with a 73-41 home victory over Clarks Summit in their last game on December 5. Elmira's defense limited the Defenders to single-digit points in the first, second and fourth quarters, while the Soaring Eagles scored 26 points off of turnovers. Four players reached double figures for EC, led by a 16-point, nine-rebound performance from Rachel Vespucci '19. Danielle Cleary '18 netted 12 points with seven boards and a game-high five assists. Emily Green '18 and Emily Breheny '20 both scored 10 points, while Breheny grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds to complete her first collegiate double-double.

DOMINATE DEFENSE
A key factor in Elmira's undefeated start has been a staunch defensive effort by the Soaring Eagles. This is evidenced by EC's ranking among the national leaders in several key defensive categories. The Purple and Gold are fifth in all of Division III in field-goal percentage defense, as they've limited opposing offenses to a mere 29.9 percentage from the floor. EC, which is 16th in overall rebounds per game (48.7), ranks even higher in defensive boards, coming in 12th in the country with 32.0 defensive boards per game. Furthermore, the Soaring Eagles have allowed just 50.9 points per game to the opposition, ranking 25th out of 435 teams in Division III.

SCOUTING BERRY
The Vikings enter Wednesday's contest against the Soaring Eagles on a two-game win streak, which has evened their overall record at 4-4 on the season. On December 9, Berry edged Covenant, 66-65, thanks to a 3-pointer from Eveline Parsons with just 11 seconds left in regulation. Last time out on December 16, the Vikings held off a late surge by LaGrange to beat the Panthers by three points, 63-60. Junior forward Alex Weems, an All-Southern Athletic Association (SAA) First Team honoree last season, paces the offense with 13.0 points per game. Weems registered her first double-double of the year with a season-best 21 points to lead the Vikings past LaGrange in their most recent victory.

SCOUTING OHIO WESLEYAN
It's been a tough start for the Battling Bishops of Ohio Wesleyan, who enter the D3 St. Pete Classic with an 0-7 record. Four of those losses have come by five points or less, including a pair of one-point setbacks to Manchester (56-55) in the season-opener and Defiance (59-58) on December 7. In their most recent loss to Kenyon, Ohio Wesleyan led by two points with just under three minutes to play, but surrendered seven unanswered points and fell by a 61-56 final score. The Battling Bishops have a well-balanced offense with four players sporting per-game averages of 9.0 or higher, led by Erin Delaney (10.4 ppg) and Elea Karras (10.1 ppg). Karras, a 5-foot-10-inch sophomore forward, as named the North Coast Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year after starting all 26 games as a rookie.

SERIES HISTORY
This week's contests against Berry and Ohio Wesleyan will mark the first-ever for the Soaring Eagles.

LOOKING AHEAD
Elmira will open the New Year and Empire 8 Conference play on Tuesday, January 2, when the Soaring Eagles head to Hoboken, New Jersey, to face the Ducks of Stevens. The opening tip is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.