ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- A layup and free throw by junior Brittany TallChief, in the final minute of regulation, lifted host Nazareth to a 50-49 victory in a women's Empire 8 basketball contest Friday evening. TallChief finished with 14 points while junior Brittany Wilson tallied a game-high 19 points for the Golden Flyers.

With the victory, Nazareth improves to 5-6 overall and 1-1 in Empire 8 contests. The Hawks drop to 3-5 overall and 0-1 in conference games.

After Hartwick's Fritzi Flores connected on a two-point basket to give the Hawks a 21-18 lead in the closing seconds of the first half, the Golden Flyers opened the second half with an 11-5 scoring run to claim a 29-26 lead. Junior Erica Shaw connected on a three-point basket to stretch Nazareth's lead to six points, 42-36, with 6:39 to play in regulation.

The Hawks answered with a 10-3 run to in the next three minutes to take the lead back, 47-46. Wilson returned the lead to the Golden Flyers with a two-point jumper with 3:03 remaining in regulation. During the following two minutes, both teams exhibited strong defense as neither offense was able to score.

With 1:10 to play, Kate Purcell temporarily gave Hartwick a 48-47 lead after making her layup. TallChief then connected on her layup to give Nazareth the lead for good, 49-48, with 38 seconds remaining. TallChief  added the decisive free throw 19 seconds later to put the Golden Flyers ahead 50-48.

Purcell had an opportunity to tie the game for the Hawks from the free throw line with 7 seconds to play, but she was able to connect on just one of her two attempts. A desperation mid-court shot from Purcell fell short as time expired.

Nazareth and Hartwick each struggled from the free throw line throughout the game to keep the game close. The Golden Flyers finished 13-21 (62 percent) while the Hawks were 12-18 (67 percent) for the game.

In addition to the combined 33 points from Wilson and TallChief, junior Katie Kollar and Shaw finished with six points and five points, respectively. Wilson also added five rebounds and five steals while TallChief and Shaw had six rebounds apiece.

Purcell had a team-high 18 points for Hartwick, followed by Maria Foglia with 11 points. Purcell also tallied a game-high 10 rebounds. The Golden Flyers' defense held the Hawks to just 16-46 (35 percent) from the field for the game.

Nazareth continues its Empire 8 schedule Saturday afternoon with a home game against Stevens at 2 p.m.