ALBANY, N.Y. – Alyssa Waters '22 matched her career-high by scoring 31 points for the Elmira College Women's Basketball program on Saturday as the Soaring Eagles dropped an 83-77 decision against Sage in Empire 8 action.
 
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 77, Sage 83
LOCATION: Albany, NY | Kahl Gym
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (6-9, 1-6 E8), Sage (8-8, 4-3 E8)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Desiree Roy '25 opened the contest by going 3-of-3 from the field to help give the Soaring Eagles an early 6-2 lead against the Gators. Sage would get things going offensively and eventually stretch its lead to 19-6 with less than three minutes to play in the quarter.

Taylor Jung '25 drained a 3-pointer for EC to trim the deficit to 17-14 before Waters followed with a layup to pull the Soaring Eagles within a point of the Gators. Waters scored each of the next two buckets to give the Purple & Gold a 20-17 edge with less than a minute to play. Sage trimmed the deficit to 22-20 with a last-second layup to beat the buzzer.

In the second quarter, the Soaring Eagles would fall behind early before Taylor Albrecht '22 connected on consecutive shots to give EC a 26-24 lead. A trey from Waters pushed Elmira's lead to 29-24 before Sage rallied to eventually take the lead with less than a minute for halftime. It would be Waters draining her second trey down the stretch to give EC a 32-30 advantage at the end of the first half.

The third quarter would not go in favor of the Soaring Eagles as Sage quickly rallied to take a 38-32 lead with 6:08 remaining. Nevaeh Winston '25 would end the scoring drought for the Purple & Gold with a layup at the 5:41 mark to rim the deficit to 38-34. Sage stretched its lead to as many as 11 points in the quarter despite EC bringing the deficit to single digits several times.

Olivia Ayres '25 opened the fourth quarter with a trey to give EC some momentum as the deficit would be trimmed to 53-46. The Soaring Eagles looked to storm back after falling behind 73-57 with 4:17 left in the contest. Winston sparked what would eventually be an 11-0 run for Elmira with a layup as Waters capped the run with a pair of made free-throws to cut the Sage lead to 73-68.

Sage would regain a double-digit advantage down the stretch before EC rallied once again to pull within four points over the final minute of play. Roy finished a layup off an assist from Waters to make it 81-77 with 13 seconds left. The Gators closed the scoring at the charity stripe to secure the 83-77 victory.

Waters finished 11-of-25 from the field and 3-of-5 from downtown, while Roy notched a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Albrecht and Winston combined for 18 points on the afternoon for the Soaring Eagles.

UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles return home to host Houghton in an Empire 8 Conference matchup on Friday, January 28 beginning at 5:30 p.m.