ROCHESTER, NY – Hartwick dominated host Nazareth College in the second half, outscoring the Golden Flyers 35-18 to earn a 62-44 road victory in Empire 8 women's basketball on Friday night at Kidera Gymnasium in Rochester. With the victory, the Hawks improve to 8-3 overall and remain one of two unbeaten teams left in the conference along with Ithaca.
            Reigning Empire 8 Rookie of the Week Brittney Dumas (Easton, CT/Joel Barlow HS) led the way for the Hawks with her first double-double in a Hartwick uniform. Dumas dropped in a career-best 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting and a career-high 10 rebounds.
            Maria Foglia (Rensselaer, NY/Catholic Central) scored 10 points, grabbed four rebounds, and added a game-high four assists with three steals. Lee Arduini (Albany, NY/Academy of the Holy Names) contributed 10 points to go along with four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
            The Hawks scored 25 points off turnovers in the game. They forced the Golden Flyers into 12 miscues and held their hosts to four field goals and just 19% (4-for-21) shooting in the decisive second half.
            The Hawks fell behind in the early going of the first half. They trailed by a 12-4 margin after six minutes, 19 seconds but turned things around by blanking the Flyers over the next five minutes. Hartwick would fire in the next 11 points to go up 15-12 with 8:40 to go in the half. Dumas scored six points and Kait Veit (Easthampton, MA/Holyoke Catholic) capped the run with her first basket of the season after missing the first semester recovering from an injury.
              Back-to-back three-pointers would give Naz the lead back which it kept for nearly four minutes. An Arduini jumper and free throw with under four minutes remaining in the first half put Hartwick in front for good at 22-20. The Hawks led by as many as four before a late Megan Morrison three-pointer trimmed the advantage to one, 27-26, at the half.
             With three minutes elapsed in the second half, the Hawks began to pull away starting with a three from Kate Purcell (Buffalo, NY/Mt. Mercy Academy). It would mark the start of six consecutive scoring possessions for the Hawks.
            Arduini added two straight baskets for a nine-point edge before Lindsey Kelly answered with a layup for the Flyers. Dumas then converted a layup for Hartwick and Foglia scored on consecutive layups following a pair of Hawk steals for a 43-30 lead.
            The Golden Flyers called timeout, but a minute later Arduini sank a three-pointer for the Hawks' biggest lead up until that point, 46-30, with 13 minutes to play. Five straight points for Naz cut the deficit to 11 points, 46-35, with under 12 minutes left but that was as close as it would get to 'Wick.
            Later, two free throws from Kelly would again bring the Flyers to within 11 points, 50-39, but the Hawks countered with 10 of the next 13 points to pull away.
            Purcell finished the night with nine points. She also added five rebounds and a game-high four steals. Taylor Vonasek (Willington, CT/E.O. Smith) contributed six points for 'Wick, which finished the night shooting 23-of-57 (40.4%) from the floor. The Hawks struggled from three-point range making only 3-of-18, but they made 87% (13-of-15) of their shots from the free-throw line.
            Naz shot 30% as a team. The Flyers received 14 points and eight rebounds from Kelly. Erica Shaw added eight points.
            Tonight's game marked the fourth straight victory for the Hawks over Nazareth. It was also the 49^th all-time meeting between the two programs and handed 'Wick a 25-24 lead in the all-time series.
            Hartwick returns to action tomorrow at Houghton College. The Hawks and Highlanders tip off at Houghton's Nielsen Physical Education Center at 4 p.m.