ELMIRA, N.Y. -- The Elmira College women's basketball team played an even game against Keuka College through one-and-a-half quarters, but the Wolves distanced themselves from there en route to a 64-49 win over the Soaring Eagles on Tuesday night.

The Soaring Eagles (2-4) and Wolves (4-2) exchanged blows in a back-and-forth first quarter. Senior forward Emily Breheny '20 knocked down EC's first two buckets, the latter of which gave the Purple and Gold a 4-2 lead.

After Keuka took a brief lead on a 3-pointer, Mykenzie Malacusky '23 stole the ball from Sydney Bloom, leading to an Alyssa Waters '22 field goal on the other end of the floor that put Elmira back up by one, 6-5. The duo combined for a fast-break bucket just under the five-minute mark of the opening quarter, giving the Soaring Eagles their last lead of the night at 8-7.

Keuka went on a six-point run over the ensuing two minutes, but five points from first-year forward Haley Raville '23 in the closing moments of the quarter whittle the deficit down to two, 15-13.

In the second quarter, Lauren Franklin '20 drilled a trey from the left side of the arc to even the score at 18-all. But the hot start to the period faded, as the Soaring Eagles netted a game-low seven points in the second quarter on 3-of-17 shooting (17.6%). Meanwhile, the Wolves pulled ahead by six points at the half, 26-20, and maintained the advantage by shooting at a rate of 58.3% (14-of-24) in the second half.

Elmira didn't go down with a fight, however, as the team went on a run in the middle of the third quarter, thanks to the strong two-way play of Raville. She scored two points, forced a turnover on the defensive end, and then feed Waters for two more transition points that brought the Soaring Eagles within six. A minute-and-a-half later, Malacusky converted the front end of two foul shots to make the score 37-32 in favor of the Wolves, but that was the closest EC would come to the lead for the remaining 12-plus minutes of regulation.

News and Notes

• Elmira shot an even 30.0% from the field, its third-best shooting percentage of the season.
• EC logged 40-or-more rebounds for the fifth time in six games and finished with a positive rebounding margin (+1) for the second time this season.
• With 10 steals, the Soaring Eagles finished just one shy of their season-best.
• Waters led all Soaring Eagles with 10 points and eclipsed double-digits for the third time as a sophomore.
• Raville's nine points, six rebounds, and two assists are all season-highs.
• Malacusky also contributed nine points to go along with three assists and three steals.
• Franklin added eight points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal.
• Breheny recorded a team-high seven boards with four points, two assists, and one blocked shot.

Up Next
The Soaring Eagles are set to host the Monarchs from King's College (Pa.) on Saturday, December 7, at 2:00 p.m. inside Speidel Gymnasium.