ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Alyssa Waters '22 led all players with 15 points and Taylor Albrecht '22 finished with her first collegiate double-double, but the Elmira College women's basketball team fell to Houghton College, 56-41, on Tuesday evening.

Unlike the first meeting between Elmira (2-2) and Houghton (3-0), which resulted in an 81-39 win for the Highlanders, the rematch proved to be a much more competitive battle. The visitors did the bulk of their damage in the first and fourth quarter, as Houghton outscored the Soaring Eagles 30-7 in those periods. However, EC won the middle quarters by a four-point margin, 30-26.

Trailing 19-8 early in the second quarter, the Soaring Eagles used a 9-2 run over the next 2:28 to whittle the deficit to two possessions. The scoring spurt's first points came from rookie Emily Sutryk '23, who successfully converted an and-one. Less than a minute later, Waters found her stroke from mid-range and hit three consecutive jumpers to bring Elmira with four points, 21-17.

The Highlanders began to pull away again in the third, taking a 31-22 lead when Hannah Roeske hit one of two free throws after being fouled on a steal-and-score try. But Elmira limited Houghton to one Roeske 3-pointer over the next four-plus minutes, and with 4:38 to play in the quarter, Autumn Hunsinger '23 tossed up a second-chance layup to make it a four-point difference, this time at 34-30.

That was the closest Elmira would come to the Houghton lead, however. Down by five, 41-36, with 8:09 remaining, the Soaring Eagles fell into a scoring drought. Over the following 7:20, EC's only offense came from one three made free throws. As a team, the Soaring Eagles were held to seven points for the entire fourth quarter, thanks in part to a game-low 13.3 field-goal percentage (2-for-15) during the final period.

News and Notes

• Elmira dropped to 2-2 on the season, while the Highlanders remained unbeaten at 3-0.
• After allowing a season-high 81 points against Houghton in the season opener, the Soaring Eagles held the Highlanders to their lowest offensive output of the season at 56 points.
• Waters posted a game-high 15 points, two more than Houghton's Emie Taylor (13).
• Albrecht hauled in a career-high 16 rebounds to go along with 12 points, two assists, and one steal.
• Albrecht produced the first double-double of her career.
• Sutryk (5), Hunsinger (5), and Mykenzie Malacusky '23 (4) rounded out Elmira's scoring efforts.

Up Next
EC's three-game homestand at Speidel Gymnasium is set to conclude on Friday, March 19, when the Soaring Eagles welcome Cazenovia for a 6:00 p.m. meeting.