ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College women's basketball team continues its two-game road trip with a 6:00 p.m. bout against Empire 8 Conference foe Nazareth College on Thursday, February 9th, in Rochester, New York.

LAST TIME OUT: The Soaring Eagles had a fourth-quarter comeback attempt fall just short in their 68-60 loss to Ithaca College on Tuesday evening. At the start of the fourth, EC faced a 14-point deficit, 52-38, and the lead grew to as high as 17 points, 57-40, after an Ali Ricchiuti jumper with 8:07 remaining. Over the next five minutes, Elmira started its comeback attempt and cut the margin to 11 points, 62-51, after a Lauren Franklin '20 three-point play. Emily Green '18 further helped the comeback effort, with three of her game-high 17 points on a trey at the 1:20 mark of the fourth, which reduced the gap to just six points, 66-60. Unfortunately for the Soaring Eagles, they would not make another basket for the rest of the contest and were handed their 10th conference loss of the season. Joining Green with strong performances in the loss were Danielle Cleary '18 and Rachel Vespucci '19. Cleary posted her third double-double of the season with 14 points and a career-high-tying 14 rebounds. Vespucci rounded out EC's double-digit scorers with 13 points.

CLEARY CLEANS THE BOARDS: With 14 rebounds against the Bombers on Tuesday, Cleary tied a career-high mark that she previously set on November 20, 2015 against Mount Union. The 5-foot-8-inch guard has been a terror in the post for the last six games, as she averaged 8.8 boards per game in that stretch, only trailing Vespucci's team-leading 10.3 rebounding average in that span. Cleary was instrumental in Elmira's efforts to hold the E8 leading Bombers to a season-low seven offensive boards, half of their average.

TURNOVER PROBLEM: Elmira set a new season high with 27 turnovers on Tuesday. The Soaring Eagles had not committed 27 turnovers since a January 27, 2016, tilt against these Bombers. EC has done a better job controlling the basketball of late, as it posted its second- and third-lowest turnover totals of the season in last weekend's matchups against Stevens Institute of Technology and Houghton, with 14 and 15, respectively.  

SCOUTING NAZARETH: The Golden Flyers enter tomorrow's contest fresh off of a 14-point triumph over Houghton on Tuesday evening, 81-67. The win over the Highlanders improves Naz's record to 9-12 overall, 5-7 in conference play and 3-6 at home. The Golden Flyers' main strength this season has been on the offensive end of the court, as their 63.7 points per game ranks third in the E8. This offensive production is fueled by Naz's dependence on the trey. Nazareth ranks second in the conference in both 3-point field goal percentage (30.3) and 3-pointers made per game (6.5). Senior guard Sam Sorge has been at the forefront of Naz's production from deep, with her conference-leading 2.9 treys per game and 3-point field goal percentage (37.7). Sorge's productivity from behind the arc has been crucial to her league-leading 20.9 points per game, a mark that is 4.1 points higher than her next closest competitor.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Thursday's matchup is the 62nd meeting between the two programs, with the Golden Flyers owning a dominant 41-20 lead in the all-time series. Nazareth enter Thursday's outing riding a five-game win streak over Elmira, with the Soaring Eagles last tasting victory in the 2013-14 season, when they swept that year's two-game set against the Golden Flyers.  

UP NEXT: EC will return to Speidel Gymnasium to play its home finale against Alfred University on Tuesday, February 14th. The bout between the Saxons and the Soaring Eagles is scheduled to begin at 6:00 p.m.