Score: Houghton College 71, Elmira College 65
Records: Houghton (13-12, 9-7 E8), Elmira (13-12, 5-11 E8)
Location: Elmira, N.Y. -- Speidel Gymnasium

ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Houghton College climbed out of a double-digit second-half hole and beat the Elmira College women's basketball team by a 71-65 final score at Speidel Gymnasium on Saturday evening in the 2017-18 finale.

One day removed from a dreadful offensive showing in a loss against Stevens Institute of Technology, the Soaring Eagles looked like a completely different team on the offensive end of the court in the first three quarters. EC shot no worse than 46.2 percent (6-of-13) in any of those three periods, including a game-high rate of 56.3 percent (9-of-16) in the third quarter alone. In addition, the Purple and Gold found their groove from distance, netting five 3-pointers on eight tries in the first half.

After the Highlanders came within a point of the lead in the second quarter, 19-18, the Soaring Eagles ended the opening half on a 17-8 run to widen the gap to 10 points at the intermission, 36-26. A Lindsey Heaton '19 and-one sparked the offensive spurt and a combined three 3-pointers from seniors Danielle Cleary '18 and Emily Green '18 late in the stanza padded EC's cushion.

A late 9-2 run that Green capped off with a jumper allowed the Soaring Eagles to take their largest lead of the game, 53-39, but the Highlanders quickly began the comeback with back-to-back treys, as part of an 8-0 run of their own.

Not only did Houghton post a game-high 60.0 field-goal percentage in the final quarter, but the EC fell into a slump with its worst percentage of the night, a mere 23.1. Amber Edwards leveled the score at 58-all, and Leslie Moose did the same for the Highlanders at 60-all with 5:52 remaining in regulation. Lauren Franklin '20 converted the first of her two foul shots on the next possession, but up 61-60 the sophomore missed her next three attempts from the line. That opened a window for the visitors, who scored the following six points to take the lead for good, 66-61. In the final three minutes of the game, Elmira missed a pair of free throws and two field goals during a drought that lasted 2:45.

Misses from the charity stripe were detrimental for the Soaring Eagles. As a team, EC finished just 9-for-22 (40.9 percent) from the line. Although Franklin logged a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, her 11 missed free throws may have been what the Elmira women needed to secure a season-ending victory.

Cleary paced all scorers with 17 points, while Green capped off her collegiate career with 16 points. The duo combined for all six of Elmira's 3-pointers.

News and Notes

• Elmira finished the 2017-18 season with a 13-12 overall record, its first winning record since 2013-14 (16-10).
• Cleary's standout career comes to an end as the program's second all-time leading scorer with 1,511 career points.
• With a team-high 14.4 points-per-game average, Cleary becomes the first Soaring Eagle to pace the team in scoring in all four years since Mary Kay Babcock '82 did so between the 1979-80 and 1982-83 campaigns.
• Cleary's career-high 56 3-point field goals are tied with Jessica Zoltowski '14 for fifth-most in a season in program history.
• In her three years at Elmira, Green made 99 career 3-pointers, ninth-most all-time.
• Heaton's 111 assists in 2017-18 rank third all-time in EC history and are two more than her previous single-season career-high.