HUNTINGDON, PA. – Desiree Roy '25 recorded her fourth double-double of the season as she finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead all scorers as the Elmira College women's basketball program dropped a 50-44 decision against Hiram on Friday at the Comfort Inn Classic hosted by Juniata College.  
 
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: Elmira 44, Hiram 50
LOCATION: Huntingdon, Pennsylvania | Memorial Gymnasium
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (4-3), Hiram (6-4)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Soaring Eagles would get off to a sluggish start in the opening quarter as Hiram dropped 16 points compared to just a pair for Elmira. Alleney Klunk '24 opened the contest with a jumper for the Purple & Gold after taking a dish from Olivia Ayres '25 to make it 2-0. Hiram would answer with a 16-0 run while Elmira went just 1-of-6 from the field to go along with 11 turnovers.

Ayres opened the second quarter by draining a trey for the Soaring Eagles to trim the deficit to 16-5 before Hiram answered with a trey of its own to push the lead to 19-5. Roy later hit a layup off a fastbreak to make it 20-7 as Laura Bogota '24 forced a turnover for Elmira at the 8:03 mark. Elmira rallied for a late 5-0 run as Taylor Jung '25 drained a 3-ball before Nevaeh Winston '25 finished a layup to make it 26-13.

Elmira hit the opening three shots of the third quarter to trim Hiram's lead to 32-19 as Taylor Albrecht '22 finished a layup to make it 32-19 following another steal by Bogota. Midway through the quarter, Roy and Winston connected on consecutive layups to cut the deficit to 36-25 as Hiram would call a timeout with 3:11 left in the frame. Both sides would go scoreless over the next three minutes before Klunk beat the buzzer with a layup for Elmira to make it 38-27 in favor of Hiram heading to the fourth quarter.

Albrecht trimmed the deficit to single digits early in the fourth quarter for the Soaring Eagles after a layup off an assist from Ayres would make it 41-33 at the 7:50 mark. Bogota followed with a trey to pull EC within 41-36 before Hiram answered with a 5-0 run. With less than a minute left in the contest, Roy connected on back-to-back layups to pull the Soaring Eagles within five points (47-42) of Hiram. D'Asia Jones '25 would hit a shot with six seconds on the clock to make it 48-44 before Hiram would be fouled with five seconds left to secure the 50-44 victory.

Elmira finished the contest 18-of-60 from the field and tallied 14 points off of 22 Hiram turnovers. Hiram went 20-of-51 from the field and 8-of-14 from the free-throw line while getting a 20-point from its bench.

UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles return to the court on Saturday for the final day of the Comfort Inn Classic as Elmira will face Oberlin College at 2:00 P.M.