BUFFALO, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's basketball team held the Medaille College Mavericks to just 16 made field as the Cardinals earned their second win of the season with a 72-66 non-conference victory on Tuesday. The win improved Fisher's record to 2-1 while Medaille fell to 1-3 heading into the Thanksgiving holiday.
Fisher took control early as the Cardinals opened up a six-point lead with nearly three minutes gone by as Erin Hulbert broke down the Mavericks' defense with a lay-up to make it 10-4. Both teams swapped buckets as the quarter ticked down until the home team made it a one-possession game with 26 seconds left to go, but Hulbert drained a 3-pointer on a feed from freshman Sydney Masna to make it 23-17 heading into the second quarter.
The Mavericks cut the deficit to one point, 23-22, to begin the period, but the Cardinals countered with a 10-2 run including eight unanswered highlighted by back-to-back jumpers from Gillian Flint to hold a nine-point advantage, 33-24, with 3:31 left in the opening half. Flint would strike again in the final minute after beating her defender off the dribble before sinking a lay-up in the paint to give Fisher a 10-point lead at the break, 38-28.
In the third quarter, Fisher saw a 12-point lead evaporate as the Mavericks outscored the Cardinals 18-4 over a seven-minute stretch to hold a two-point margin, 46-44. Fisher rebounded, however, and closed out the stanza with six straight points of its own including two free throws by Hulbert to bring it to 53-47 in the visitor's favor.
The Cardinals carried their momentum into the fourth quarter and built another double-digit lead courtesy of an 8-0 burst capped by a 3-pointer from Katy McInerney to make it 61-48, but Medaille continued to hang around and had it at a four-point affair with 2:45 remaining in the contest. Up by two possessions, Fisher worked the ball around as the Mavericks were forced to foul with time running out. Hulbert continued to have the hot hand and went 4-for-4 at the charity stripe over the final 29 seconds to preserve the win, 72-66.
Hulbert led the way for Fisher for the second consecutive game with 15 points and seven boards while Chelsea Repard finished with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor. Freshman Olivia Baumann added 10 in the win to go along with four rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots. Masna contributed eight points and seven boards overall.
The Cardinals will make their home debut at 4 p.m. on Saturday as they host Union College in a non-conference showdown in Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium.