ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College women's basketball team will look to build off of last night's Empire 8 Conference victory over Alfred University tonight, when it hits the road to take on St. John Fisher College at 6:00 p.m. in Rochester, New York.

LAST TIME OUT
The Soaring Eagles capped off home play at Speidel Gymnasium with a 68-59 victory over the Saxons of Alfred on Tuesday night. The win snapped a six-game losing streak and allowed the Purple and Gold to sweep the season series against AU for the fifth consecutive season. Three Soaring Eagles scored double figures, led by second-year forward Rachel Vespucci '19 with a career-high 25 points. Vespucci was near perfect from the foul line, as she made 13-of-14 attempts from the charity stripe to go along with a team-high nine rebounds and three steals. Lindsey Heaton '19 netted 17 points, followed by Emily Green '18 with 12.

VESPUCCI CONTINUES TO IMPRESS
A banner sophomore season continued for Vespucci during last night's matchup with the Saxons. Although she finished one rebound shy of a double-double, the Macedon, New York, native was a force to be reckoned. The second-year forward reached double figures for the 15th time this year and established a new career high with 25 points. While she's had some up-and-down performances from the foul line throughout the season, Vespucci was nearly perfect on Tuesday night with 13 makes on 14 attempts; her 13 free throws were also a career high. In addition, Vespucci's nine boards allowed her to tie Katy Knox '85 for the seven-highest single-season rebound total (246) in EC history. Four more rebounds will move Vespucci into a tie for sixth place with Knox's senior season total of 250.

HEATON MAKING HISTORY
The reigning Empire 8 Conference Rookie of the Year, Heaton has avoided the infamous sophomore slump and is having another stellar season for the Purple and Gold. In the victory over the Saxons, she scored 17 points, tying her previous season high. More notably, with three assists, she became just the fifth player in program history to dish out 100-or-more assists in a single season. With 101 dimes so far this season, Heaton ranks sixth on the single-season leaderboard, having surpassed former standout point guard, Heather Sheffield '96, who owns three of Elmira's 100-assist seasons.

FISHER AT A GLANCE
The St. John Fisher women are looking to secure the fourth and final seed in the Empire 8 Tournament, as the Cardinals boast an overall record of 11-11 and a conference mark of 8-5. Last time out, the Cards were edged by crosstown rival, Nazareth College, who is nipping at their heels with a 7-7 league record. The 72-66 home loss snapped a three-game win streak, which began on January 31st in a 59-53 victory over the Soaring Eagles in Elmira. As a team, Fisher sits in the middle of the conference in most statistical categories, including scoring, as the Cards are fifth in the E8 with 62.4 points per game. Junior guard Caroline Robertson is the only player averaging double-digit points on the team with 13.7, while her 6.9 rebounds per game are also a team high.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Soaring Eagles will close the books on the 2016-17 season with a road trip to Utica, New York, to battle the Pioneers of Utica College on Saturday, February 15th, at 2:00 p.m.