CAZENOVIA, N.Y. – The Elmira College Women's Basketball team continued its good start to the season on Tuesday afternoon, defeating the Wildcats from Cazenovia College 56-38. The Soaring Eagles used a 16-2 run in the first quarter to erase an early four-point lead and never looked back in its route to victory.

Desiree Roy '25 paced the Soaring Eagles, coming up one point shy of a double-double after recording nine points and 11 rebounds. Taylor Albrecht '22 scored 11 points for EC, while 12 Soaring Eagles in total would crack the scoreboard. 

The Soaring Eagles were able to outscore the Wildcats 29-6 in points off turnovers, while scoring 42 of its 56 points inside the paint.

JUST THE BASICS: 
Location: Cazenovia, New York | Upper Gymnasium
Score: Elmira: 56, Cazenovia: 38 
Records: Elmira: (2-0, 0-0 E8), Cazenovia (1-3, 0-0 NAC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED:
The teams battled back-and-forth through the first two and a half minutes of play before a pair of buckets from the Wildcats forced Soaring Eagles head coach Thad Phillips to call an early timeout. Out of the break, Nevaeh Winston '25 was able to find Desiree Roy '25 for the first EC bucket of the contest. 

Over the next seven minutes, the Soaring Eagles would conclude the first quarter on a 16-2 run, with D'Asia Jones '25, Winston, and Roy, leading the charge as the Soaring Eagles carried a double-digit lead into the break, 16-6. 

In the second, the Soaring Eagles would outscore the Wildcats by six points, which allowed the visitors to extend its lead to 16 at the break. 

In the first half, the Soaring Eagles shot 12-of-39 from the floor compared to just 5-of-26 for the Wildcats. 

To begin the second half, the Soaring Eagles scored the first seven points of the frame and quickly found themselves ahead 23 after a fastbreak bucket from Roy. After a bucket from Cazenovia, the Soaring Eagles would take its largest lead of the quarter (27) following baskets from McKenzie Simmons '26, Albrecht, and Winston. Both teams would go scoreless in the final 2:30 of the third quarter, with EC carrying a 25-point lead into the final frame. 

In the fourth, Victoria Rought '24 started scoring for Elmira with a layup just 41 seconds into the period. From there, a made basket from the Wildcats brought the EC lead back down to 25 before Elmira used a 5-0 run over the next four minutes of play to take a 30 point lead after Sara Gardner '23 scored in the paint. 

From there, Cazenovia would bring the Elmira lead down to 18 points, where it would stay as the Soaring Eagles went on to win the contest 56-38. For the game, the Soaring Eagles would shoot 32.0% from the floor compared to 27.8% for the Wildcats.

ELMIRA LEADERS (24-of-75, 32.0 percent from the field)
Desiree Roy - 9 points, 11 rebounds
Taylor Albrecht - 11 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals

CAZENOVIA LEADERS (15-of-54, 27.8 percent from the field)
McKenzie Bennett - 9 points, 2 rebounds
Alivia Turk - 16 rebounds, 3 points

UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles return to the court on Saturday for its first home game of the season as they battle the Express from Wells College. Tip off inside Speidel Gymnasium is set for 2:00 PM.