Score: The Sage Colleges 63, Elmira College 54
Records: Sage (7-3, 2-0 E8), Elmira (8-4, 0-3 E8)
Location: Albany, N.Y. -- Kahl Gymnasium
 
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Despite owning a two-point lead after three quarters, a dominant fourth-quarter perform by The Sage Colleges proved to be too much for the Elmira College women's basketball team, as the Purple and Gold suffered a 63-54 defeat on Saturday afternoon. The bout, which took place at the Gators' Kahl Gymnasium in Albany, New York, marked EC's third consecutive loss in Empire 8 Conference play.

The Soaring Eagles were led today by a stellar performance from Danielle Cleary '18, who paced all scorers with 20 points, her fourth 20-point game of the season. Rachel Vespucci '19 was not far behind, as she finished the tilt with 15 points and nine rebounds, falling just short of her fourth double-double of the year. Lindsey Heaton '19 recorded nine points to go along with seven assists.

Despite the nine-point difference in today's final score, the bout was very even throughout. EC and Sage ended the contest tied with 18 turnovers apiece, while the Gators owned a slim advantage in rebounds (46-to-38). Sage also owned a slight lead in field-goal percentage, as it went 37.3 percent (22-for-59) from the field, while Elmira shot 31.7 percent (20-for-63) from the floor.

The Gators stormed ahead early in the first quarter by going on an 8-0 run in the first three minutes of the contest. Once the Soaring Eagles settled in on defense, they started to draw the deficit closer, going on an 8-4 push to cut the margin to just four points, 12-8. By the end of the first quarter, Elmira trailed Sage by just one point, 17-16.

The second quarter was very similar to the first, as both teams played evenly throughout. One difference between the two quarters, however, was increased defensive pressure by both teams. After making four 3-pointers in the opening 10 minutes, EC was held to just one in the second stanza. Sage, on the other hand, was held to 11-for-30 (36.7) shooting from the field.

Individually, Cleary paced all scorers with 12 points in the first half of play. Cleary's performance was critical to the Purple and Gold going into the halftime break down by just two points, 30-28, as she tallied four points in the final 1:16 with a trey from the left wing and a made free throw.

In the third quarter, EC continued its defensive intensity, as it held the Gators to just 13 points for the second consecutive stanza. Thanks to this defense, Elmira took a slim 45-43 advantage into the fourth quarter. EC took the lead with an 8-2 run in the final 2:20 of the third, which was bookended by plays from Cleary. The product of Rochester, New York, began the push with a driving layup and ended it with a corner trey with just four ticks on the clock. Vespucci was also fantastic up to that point, as she was second on the team with eight points, in addition to eight rebounds.

Unfortunately for the Soaring Eagles, this new-found momentum did not carry throughout the remainder of the game. In the fourth quarter, Elmira was outscored, 20-9. This was because of a 9-0 run by Sage that spanned three critical minutes of the fourth, that gave the Gators a 56-48 lead. This advantage would hold for the remainder of the bout, giving the E8 win to the home team.

News and Notes

• The Soaring Eagles fell to 8-4 overall and 0-3 inside E8 play, while the Gators improved to 7-3 overall and 2-0 against league affiliates.
• Despite the loss, the Purple and Gold still own a 10-1 lead over Sage in these two team's 11 meetings since the 1990-91 season.
• With the setback, EC extended its season-long losing streak to three straight games.
• The Soaring Eagles were held to a season-low nine free-throw attempts.
• The Purple and Gold have made three-or-more blocks in five consecutive games.
• Elmira's six blocks are tied for the second-most that it has recorded this year.
• With five rebounds today, Cleary now has 521 in her career, which is tied with Rachael Brown '00 for eight on EC's all-time rebounds leaderboard.
• With seven assists tonight, Heaton is now tied with Samantha Bedford '04 (233) for fourth place among the Purple and Gold's all-time assists leaders.
• Vespucci fell just shy of the fourth double-double of her junior campaign with 15 points and nine rebounds.
• Emily Breheny '20 played a career-high 27 minutes and posted five rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

 
Up Next
The EC women will continue conference competition on Tuesday, January 9, when the Soaring Eagles head to Houghton, New York, to challenge the Highlanders of Houghton College. The league bout is scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. at the Nielsen Center.