ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Elmira College Soaring Eagles women's basketball team hosted the Highlanders of Houghton University for an Empire 8 conference matchup inside Speidel Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. The strong shooting of Houghton was too much for the Soaring Eagles to overcome, falling 72-47.
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Houghton opened the scoring with a layup. Amarionah Dixon drove in, receiving a pass from Haley Mosch, to tie the game. The Soaring Eagles started out strong from beyond the arc as Emma Ryan and Mosch both made threes. The Highlanders scored 14 consecutive points before Dixon hit a pair of free throws for EC. Houghton had a 26-10 advantage after the first quarter, shooing 6-9 from three-point range. Lauren Miller got the scoring started in the second with a layup. The Highlanders strong shooting continued as they went on a 16-3 run to close out the second quarter. Heading into halftime the Soaring Eagles trailed 43-17.

Elmira started off the second half on a 7-2 run, that included a three-pointer from Miller. The momentum continued as Mia Welty went to the free throw line on back-to-back possessions, hitting all 4 shots. Layups by Aynsley Belcher and Ryan capped off another 8-2 run for the Soaring Eagles. The Highlanders made a pair of three-pointers, responding to Elmira's run with a 9-2 run of their own. EC outscored Houghton 17-13 in the third quarter, going a perfect 8-8 at the free-throw line. Houghton held a 56-34 advantage heading into the final quarter. Miller drove on the right baseline for a layup, the first points of the fourth quarter for EC. Following suit, Kelsey Stewart recorded a shot in the paint of her own. Miller hit another three-pointer as the Elmira offense gathered some momentum. Strong shooting in the early part of the fourth continued for EC as Ryan and Dixon tacked on layups. As time expired, Elmira fell short 72-47.  
 
LEADERS
Offensively, Ryan led with 13 points and had four rebounds while Dixon tallied 10 points and notched nine rebounds. Miller recorded ten points and led the way defensively with three steals.

UP NEXT
The Soaring Eagles travel to Albany, NY for a conference matchup with the Gators of Russell Sage College on Friday, February 6^th. Tip-off is set for 5:30 PM.