ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College women's basketball team challenges Utica College on Saturday, January 13, Empire 8 Conference action. The league tilt, which will take place at the Clark Athletic Center in Utica, New York, is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m.
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LAST TIME OUT
The Soaring Eagles suffered a 62-48 defeat at the hands of Houghton College on Tuesday evening at the Highlanders' Nielsen Center. EC was unable to overcome the stingy defense of Houghton, as the Purple and Gold were held to just eight points in the critical third quarter. In that period, Elmira saw a five-point deficit, 32-27, balloon up to 16 points, 51-35, by the end of the quarter. EC tried to claw its way back into the contest in the fourth, winning the quarter by a two-point margin, 13-11, but it proved to be not enough, as the Soaring Eagles were resigned to the E8 loss.
Sally Hogan '19 was solid in 26 minutes of play against the Pioneers, as she finished the bout with nine points and a career-high-tying 12 rebounds, just shy of the second double-double of her career. The lone Soaring Eagle to crack double-digit points was
Emily Green '18, who tallied 11 against the tough Houghton defense.
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ADDED RESPONSIBILITYÂ
In recent games, Head Coach
Shannon Howley has entrusted Hogan and
Emily Breheny '20 with extra responsibilities. After starting the year with erratic playing time, Hogan has seen a gradual increase in minutes, which culminated in a career-high-tying 26 minutes of action against the Highlanders. These additional minutes have paid off for the Soaring Eagles, as Hogan has hauled in at least five rebounds in each of the last seven games and has twice tallied nine-plus points. Breheny has made her first two career starts in the Purple and Gold's last two games and has averaged 26 minutes in those bouts. The Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania, native seems to be finding her stroke, as she finished 3-for-5 with eight points, her second-highest single-game total, against Houghton.
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SCOUTING UTICA
As losers of seven of their last 10 games, the Pioneers enter Saturday's contest looking to turnaround their 5-7 overall record. The start of conference play has brought some optimism to Utica's season, as the Pioneers own a 43-39 victory over last season's E8 tournament runner-up, Stevens. In its most recent bout on Thursday, however, UC suffered a 73-71 defeat at the hands of Hartwick at the Clark Athletic Center, which leaves its conference record at 1-2. As has been the case for the past few seasons, the Pioneers hang their hat on solid point guard play. Seniors Ashelyne Babb and Ashley Mayo have finished among Utica's top-three points-per-game leaders in each of the last three years. Babb is the more well-rounded of the two, as she leads the team in assists (3.7) and ranks second in points per game (13.5). The Lynn, Massachusetts, native's conference-best plus-1.42 assist-to-turnover ratio has been a critical part of a UC offense that ranks 30th in the country in turnovers per game (14.0) this year. Mayo, on the other hand, is the pure scorer, as she paces the team in points per game (14.3).
SERIES HISTORY
After defeating the Soaring Eagles twice in 2016-17, the Pioneers took a 28-27 lead over EC in the all-time series. On Saturday, Elmira will look to end Utica's three-game win streak in the series and get its first win over UC since the Purple and Gold bested the Pioneers by a 56-53 final score on January 15, 2016, at the Clark Athletic Center. An Elmira win on Saturday would be its fourth in its last five games in Utica.
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UP NEXT
The EC women welcome Alfred University to Speidel Gymnasium for an E8 bout on Tuesday, January 16, the first of three-straight home games for the Soaring Eagles. The league tilt is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m.