Score: St. John Fisher College 60, Elmira College 53
Records: St. John Fisher (19-5, 14-1 E8), Elmira (13-10, 5-9 E8)
Location: Rochester, N.Y. -- Bobby Wanzer Court at Manning & Napier Varsity Gymnasium
 
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- A second-half comeback attempt by the Elmira College women's basketball team came up just short against the Empire 8 Conference-leading Cardinals of St. John Fisher, as the Soaring Eagles fell by a 60-53 final score on Tuesday evening.

Elmira was led in the contest by Rachel Vespucci '19, who tallied 16 points on 6-for-11 (54.5 percent) shooting to go along with six rebounds and a steal. Lindsey Heaton '19 was the only other EC player to score double-digit points with 12 to go along with six assists, three rebounds and a career-high-tying four steals.

What kept the Soaring Eagles in today's contest was its ability to force turnovers. The Cardinals committed 21 turnovers on the evening, compared to Elmira's 16. This stingy defense helped EC overcome being outshot (47.7 percent-to-37.3 percent) and outrebounded (34-to-29).

The Soaring Eagles struggled to find their rhythm offensively in the first half, shooting 30.0 percent (9-for-30) from the field in the first 20 minutes. What kept the contest competitive was Elmira's defense, which held the Cardinals to a 44.0 field-goal percentage (11-for-25), in addition to causing 11 Fisher turnovers.

The Purple and Gold started to close the gap in the final 4:11 of the second quarter, as a 14-point hole, 22-8, was lessened to a quarter-low eight points, 27-19. Heaton was at the forefront of this run, scoring six points in the stretch. With two free throws to end the half, Fisher went into halftime up 10, 31-21.

Things really started to get interesting in the last 3:07 of the third period. With EC trailing 45-34, Elmira went on a 6-0 run to end the quarter. Emily Green '18 capped off the surge with a jumper with 47 seconds left on the clock to cut the Purple and Gold's deficit to just five points, 45-40.  

It all came down to the fourth quarter, where EC grabbed the early momentum. In the first three minutes, Elmira had knotted the score at 47-all after starting the quarter on a 7-2 run. Following a Fisher bucket, Danielle Cleary '18 again tied the score, this time at 49-49, with a layup with 6:06 left on the clock.

Unfortunately for the Soaring Eagles, this would be the closest that they would get for the remainder of the game, as an 8-0 Cardinals run over the next four minutes sunk any hopes of an upset victory. Fisher sank its critical free throws down the stretch to extend its win streak to 12 consecutive games.
 
News and Notes

• Elmira fell to 13-10 overall and 5-9 against Empire 8 opponents this season.
• The Soaring Eagles conclude the season with a 6-6 record on the road.
• EC's 29 rebounds today are a season-low for the team.
• The Soaring Eagles forced 21 Cardinals turnovers tonight, the most that Elmira has forced in a conference game this season.
• The Purple and Gold recorded nine steals tonight, which is tied for their second-highest total of the year.
• Fisher's 47.7 field-goal percentage is the highest by an EC opponent in 2017-18.
• Green took sole possession of ninth place among Elmira's all-time 3-point leaders with 94.
• With six assists tonight, Heaton has 291 in her illustrious career, the second-most in program history. 
• Heaton has tallied double-digit points in five straight games.  
• Heaton tied a career-high with four steals tonight.
• Vespucci was one point shy of tying her season-high point total of 17.
• Vespucci has scored at least 10 points ten times this season.

 
Up Next
The Soaring Eagles return to Speidel Gymnasium for the first of back-to-back home games to close the 2017-18 regular season on Friday, February 16, against the Stevens Institute of Technology. The league bout is slated to begin at 6:00 p.m.