ONEONTA, NY – The visiting Elmira Soaring Eagles nearly pulled off an upset of Hartwick's women's basketball team on Saturday at Lambros Arena, but the resilient Hawks emerged with a 59-52 win. 'Wick trailed Elmira by two points after the Soaring Eagles battled back from a 13-point second-half deficit, but the Hawks scored the final seven points of the game over the last 2:54 for the victory.
            Hartwick improves to 18-3 and 10-1 in the Empire 8 Conference and remains in a first-place tie with Ithaca. The Hawks' 18 wins are the most for the program since the 1999-2000 season. It is also just the fourth time the team has achieved 10 victories in conference play.
            Sophomore Maria Foglia (Rensselaer, NY/Catholic Central) led all scorers with 21 points. She also added a team-high nine rebounds and tallied six of the Hawks' final seven points down the stretch. Foglia, who entered the game ranked third in the conference in free-throw percentage, helped her average with a perfect 10-of-10 showing. Sophomore Kate Purcell (Buffalo, NY/Mount Mercy Academy) added 11 points, six boards, game-highs of five steals and four assists, and two blocks. Freshman Carlee Hirt (Beacon, NY/John Jay East Fishkill) contributed 10 points, seven rebounds, and three blocked shots.
            The Hawks managed to only shoot 38.7% (18-of-47) from the field in the game. The team made up for it from the free-throw line, hitting 84% on 21-of-25 shots. Hartwick also out-rebounded Elmira by a 41-34 margin and outscored the Soaring Eagles 22-12 in the paint.
            The first half of play was closely contested with four tie scores and a pair of lead changes. The largest margin for either team over the first 10 minutes was a five-point, 16-11 lead for the Hawks with 10:50 remaining. The Soaring Eagles would cut the Hartwick advantage to two points, 23-21, with roughly three and half minutes left. Hartwick responded with a 10-2 run to close the half up 10 points, 33-23, led by Purcell and Jo Vincents (Vallensbak, Denmark/Kent School) who combined for eight points.
            The Hawks' lead grew to its largest after an early second-half three-pointer from Foglia made the score 36-23. Hartwick maintained its lead and a Purcell jumper with 13:41 showing on the clock gave her team a comfortable 46-35 edge. The basket, however, would mark the Hawks' final one for over eight minutes.
            Hartwick missed its next eight shots from the field while EC went on a 10-2 run to close the gap to three, 48-45, with 5:33 left. After Foglia hit a jumper for the Hawks, Elmira's Jessica Zoltowski keyed a 7-0 run and the Soaring Eagles took their first lead of the half. Zoltowski hit a three-pointer and following a turnover by the Hawks, Alex Balara tied it with two foul shots with 4:48 remaining. Both teams alternated turnovers before Zoltowski was fouled and sank a pair of free throws for a 52-50 EC edge.
            EC got a crack at extending their advantage but a turnover gave the ball back to 'Wick. Purcell converted with a tough layup to even the score at 52-52. With under two minutes to play, Hirt blocked a layup attempt from EC's Maria Thannhauser and following a Soaring Eagle foul, Foglia put the Hawks up to stay with two free throws with 1:37 to play.
            Elmira had a chance to tie but a Purcell steal and subsequent short jumper from Foglia gave the Hawks some breathing room. The Soaring Eagles fired up four three-point attempts in the final 44 seconds but each one was off the mark. Vincents and Foglia closed out the game with late free throws for 'Wick.
            Vincents ended the game 8-of-10 from the free-throw line for eight points. She added four rebounds and three steals.
            Zoltowski paced the Soaring Eagles in the game with 17 points. She also had nine rebounds. Balara pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with 14 points and four steals. Thannhauser ended the game with 12 points.

            'Wick has now won nine straight games, besting their previous season mark of eight. The nine-game string is tied for third-longest in Hartwick history.
            Hartwick next plays on Tuesday on the road at Albany College of Pharmacy. The Hawks and Panthers tip off at 7 p.m.