ONEONTA, NY – For the second day in a row, Hartwick's women's basketball team came up a point short. Stephanie Sweeney's free throws with 4.2 seconds left in the game gave the visiting St. John Fisher Cardinals a 68-67 victory over the Hawks on Saturday at Lambros Arena. 'Wick falls to 4-7 overall and 1-3 in the Empire 8. All three conference losses have each been by a single point.

Hartwick took the lead with less than one minute played in the game, and held onto it for over 30 minutes of action. After Fisher battled back to tie it with under 10 minutes remaining, the Hawks scored the next seven points and maintained the edge for seven more minutes.

Hartwick led 62-57 on a pair of Kate Purcell (Buffalo, NY/Mount Mercy Academy) free throws with 4:32 left, but an 8-0 Cardinal run in less than two minutes gave Fisher the lead. Colleen Maloney, who led all scorers with 24, keyed the run with back-to-back three-pointers.

'Wick's Fritzi Flores (Bergenfield, NJ/Paramus Catholic) came back with a basket for the Hawks to cut the lead to one, 65-64, with under two minutes left but neither team would be able to score for the next 1:54 of the game.

With 8.8 seconds to go, junior Samantha Fox (Hartwick, NY/Cooperstown) nailed a jumper and was fouled to give Hartwick a one-point edge, 66-65. Fox missed her free throw and the Cardinals drove down court for the potential game-winner. On her way to the hoop, Sweeney was fouled and she hit her pair from the line with just over five ticks left to put Fisher in front. Flores drove down the floor for one last chance for the Hawks, but her desperation three-point attempt in traffic was blocked.

Hartwick played a spirited first half of play as it took a lead of 10 points, 22-12, after 9:18 of action. The Hawks, who shot 45% from the field in the period, went into the locker room up 38-32. The team finished the game connecting on 43% as a team, which was a season-best.

Purcell scored 12 of her team-high 20 points in the first half. She also finished with game-highs of 13 rebounds and three steals. Fox finished the game with 10 points and seven boards. Flores scored nine points and Tracey Koch (Glenmont, NY/Bethlehem) netted eight.

Meghan Soja added 14 points for Fisher. Sweeney ended the game with 10 points and six assists.

Hartwick returns to Lambros Arena on Tuesday against Utica. Game time is set for 6 p.m.