ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Elmira College Soaring Eagles are set to take on the Golden Eagles from SUNY Brockport in the opening round of the Empire 8 Women's Basketball Championship at 2:00 PM on Saturday in Brockport. This marks the third consecutive season that the Purple & Gold have qualified for the Empire 8 Tournament, with Elmira facing Houghton each of the last two seasons.

The Soaring Eagles enter Saturday's contest having won each of their last four games after closing the regular season on Tuesday with a 75-47 victory against Keuka. Over its last six games, Elmira has gone 5-1 with wins against Keuka (x2), Alfred, Utica, and SUNY Poly. Brockport closed the regular season on a three-game winning streak after dropping a 70-67 decision against St. John Fisher on February 8 at home. The Golden Eagles secured the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament with a 75-62 win at home on Tuesday against SUNY Geneseo.

Elmira and SUNY Brockport renewed its head-to-head series after the Golden Eagles joined the Empire 8 Conference prior to the 2024-25 season. The Soaring Eagles and Golden Eagles matched up eight times between 1980 and 1994 before meeting again for the first time in 30 years as Brockport recorded a 74-53 victory inside Speidel Gymnasium on January 17, 2025. The lone win for the Soaring Eagles in the head-to-head series against the Golden Eagles came on December 12, 1991 (W, 67-61).

MATCHUP HISTORY:

• All-time, SUNY Brockport is 9-1 against the Soaring Eagles. 
• Brockport won the first-ever meeting on December 6, 1980 against the Soaring Eagles, 59-50.
• The smallest margin of victory in the series for Brockport was a 78-74 triumph against the Soaring Eagles on February 21, 1994.
• In the January 17 meeting between the two programs, Mallory Welty '26 recorded a season-high 15 points as she connected on five 3-pointers.
• In the February 1 meeting, Laura Bogota '25 finished with a game-high 19 points to go along with five made 3-pointers for the Soaring Eagles. 

BY THE NUMBERS:

• Brockport is the highest scoring team in the league, averaging 79.0 points per contest.
• Stephanie Jean-Baptiste leads the Golden Eagles and is third in the league in scoring, averaging 17.8 points per game.
• Kaileigh Hunt is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, while Cam Tooley leads Brockport with 7.2 boards and 3.9 assists per game.
• Brockport's Peyton Maneri leads the Empire 8 with 2.6 steals per game.
• The Soaring Eagles enter the tournament third in the league in scoring defense at 57.9 points per game.
• Bogota leads the Soaring Eagles in scoring, averaging 11.0 points per game and is averaging just under three assists per game.
• Taylor Jung '25 is averaging 8.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, while Nevaeh Winston '25 is averaging 8.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.1 blocks per game.
• Winston is fifth in the league in blocks per game, Amarionah Dixon '26 and Winston are seventh and eighth, respectively, in steals per game.

TICKET INFORMATION
$6.00 - Adults
$4.00 - Students (with ID)
$4.00 - Senior Citizens
Free - Children Under 12
All tickets can be purchased at the game.

STATISTICS & LIVE VIDEO
SUNY Brockport will provide all live video and statistics. Both can be accessed through clicking here.