Elmira, NY -- Liz Forrest '14 hit two free throws with 1.2 seconds remaining to lift the Elmira College women's basketball team (6-2, 2-0 E8) to a 61-59 victory over St. John Fisher College (7-4, 0-1 E8). Forrest's heroics gave EC their fifth win in a row and their second win in Empire 8 play.

Forrest led four Soaring Eagles in double figures with a career-high 17 points as the Cardinal defense focused in on stopping the Empire 8's leading scorer, Jessica Zoltowski'14. Zoltowski finished with 13 points, five of which came in the final 50 seconds of play, and Alex Balara '15 and Maria Thannhauser '14 rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 apiece. This was the first time four Elmira players had recorded double-digit points since January 10, 2012 when five players did it against Penn College.

EC jumped out to an 8-6 advantage in the early goings, but the Cardinals would start to take control from there, opening up a 10 point lead after a Camaryn Buckner layup and forcing Coach Shannon Howley to call a timeout with 9:08 left to play in the first half. Following the timeout, the Soaring Eagles would slowly chip into the deficit, bringing it down to one on a pair of Forrest free throws with two seconds remaining in the opening stanza. Thanks to improved defensive intensity, EC went into the locker rooms trailing 27-26.

The Cardinals quickly opened up a seven point advantage and would continue to lead for over 16 minutes of the second half until a jumper from Meghan Loya '16 rattled home to give the Purple and Gold their first lead since the 16:20 mark in the first half. The lead exchanged hands a few times in the final few minutes before the Soaring Eagles made their final charge.

With St. John Fisher leading by three points and 30 seconds on the clock, Zoltowski drove the lane and finished a left-handed layup as she was being fouled to cut it to a one point deficit. The senior forward calmly stepped to the line and hit her free throw to tie the game at 59.

The Cardinals could hold the ball for the final shot, but Portia Velasco decided to make something happen as the clock ticked below 15 seconds. She dribbled towards the basket and went up for a layup, but Forrest was waiting for her and took the charge, giving the ball back to the Purple and Gold with a chance to win the game.

Coach Howley put the ball in Zoltowski's hands, letting her senior be the playmaker on the floor. Zoltowski got past her defender and found Forrest wide-open in the corner as the defense collapsed around her. Forrest let the shot go but was hit hard by Fisher's Mary Kate Cusack setting up her game-winning free throws.

The 61-59 win pushes Elmira's record to 6-2, marking their best start since the 2006-07 season when the women started 7-2.

EC has a few days between games as the women host Cazenovia College on Tuesday, January 7th in an 8:00 p.m. game.