Purcell, Foglia Combine for 35 in Hartwick Women’s Basketball’s 66-63 Win at Elmira

More news about: Hartwick
Jan 21, 2011

ELMIRA, NY – Hartwick's women's basketball team earned its second Empire 8 Conference win on Friday night with a 66-63 victory over Elmira College at Speidel Gymnasium in Elmira, NY. After the host Soaring Eagles battled back from a second-half deficit to tie the game with less than a minute to play, freshman Maria Foglia (Rensselaer, NY/Catholic Central) nailed a three-pointer with 22 seconds left to give the Hawks the lead for good. The Hawks are now 5-8 overall and 2-4 in the conference.

Freshman Kate Purcell (Buffalo, NY/Mount Mercy) paced Hartwick with a game-high 20 points. Foglia finished the game with 15 points for the Hawks, who snap a three-game winless streak with the win.

Both teams traded the lead 14 times in the game, but the Hawks were able to gain the upper hand in the second half. After an Elmira basket gave the hosts the edge, 44-43, with 12:44 left to play, Purcell keyed an 11-0 run with seven points over the next five and a half minutes to put 'Wick up by 10, 54-44.

The Soaring Eagles scored the next five points and the Hawks still held a slim lead until the final minute. Hartwick led 59-54, but back-to-back jumpers for Elmira made it a one-point game with 90 seconds left. Freshman Tracey Koch's (Glenmont, NY/Bethlehem) offensive rebound and put back gave 'Wick a three-point cushion but the Soaring Eagles evened the score at 61-61 on a basket and free throw from Becca Fretz with 51 seconds left to set the stage for Foglia's big three-pointer on the other end.

The Hawks struggled shooting the basketball in the second half of play, making only 33%. The team, however, got the job done at the free-throw line connecting on 18-of-20 (90%) in the final 20 minutes. Hartwick also forced 18 Elmira turnovers which the squad turned into 21 points. 

Katrina Caulfied (Palmer, MA/Palmer) contributed eight points and seven rebounds for the Hawks. Koch and Fritzi Flores (Bergenfield, NJ/Paramus Catholic) both scored seven points.

Fretz finished with a double-double for Elmira (3-13, 1-7 E8) with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Tesia Kaczynski also scored 19 points for EC and Becky Peterman added 10.

Hartwick plays tomorrow afternoon at first-place Ithaca (11-5, 7-0 E8) beginning at 2 p.m.