ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick stayed perfect in the Empire 8 Conference on Friday night with a convincing 72-36 rout of Alfred University in a game played at Lambros Arena. The Hawks led from start to finish and dominated in the second half as they did not allow the Saxons to score a basket in the final 14 and a half minutes.
            With the victory, 'Wick improves to 12-3 overall and 6-0 in the league. Alfred falls to 5-8 and 0-4.
            Brittney Dumas (Easton, CT/Joel Barlow) led three Hartwick players in double figures with 17 points. Lee Arduini (Albany, NY/Academy of the Holy Names) scored 12 points and Taylor Vonasek (Willington, CT/E.O. Smith) contributed 11. In total, 12 Hawks made it into the scoring column.
            Maria Foglia (Rensselaer, NY/Catholic Central) scored seven points to vault her into fifth place on the career scoring list at Hartwick. She passes Julie Griffin (1992-1996) and now has 1,352 points in a 'Wick uniform.
            The Hawks would convert 27 of their 65 shots for a shooting percentage of 41.5% for the game. They allowed the Saxons to shoot just 25% (11-of-44), which included a 17.4% (4-for-23) showing in the second half. The Hawks would control the inside as they outscored the Saxons 38-4 in the paint and held a 50-25 edge in rebounds.
            'Wick grabbed the early lead with the game's first six points over the opening four minutes and never looked back. They opened up a 13-2 advantage with 7:18 elapsed on a Kait Veit (Easthampton, MA/Holyoke Catholic) jumper.
            The Saxons would trim the margin to seven, 15-8, but a 10-0 run fueled by back-to-back three-pointers from Veit and Alicia Razanousky (Stuyvesant, NY/Ichabod Crane) would increase the lead to 25-8 with under nine minutes left. Veit's three was the 97th of her career at 'Wick which tied her for fourth all-time with Fritzi Flores (2007-2011).
            A Rachael Stedman jumper for AU made it a 27-15 game with 6:45 left but the Hawks would limit the visitors to just a single free throw for nearly the rest of the half. A layup just before the buzzer for the Saxons ended the drought but the Hawks led comfortably 33-18.
            In the second half, Hartwick outscored Alfred 11-10 over the opening 5:35. Sarah Federico's layup with 14:25 left to play, however, would mark the final bucket for the Saxons all night. They were only able to muster eight more points from the foul line all night on the Hawk defense.
            The Hartwick lead grew to 21 on an Arduini three-pointer with 13:26 left and the Hawks maintained at least a 20-point advantage the rest of the way. Courtney Cirillo (Johnstown, NY/Johnstown) got the advantage to 30 with a jumper at 4:11 and Anna Hickey (Falmouth, ME/Falmouth) provided the final margin with a three-pointer at the buzzer for the 72-36 final score.
              Dumas would make seven of her 11 shots on the evening. She also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds. Arduini chipped in with six boards and Vonasek had five.
            Veit and Cirillo each finish with five points. Foglia and Emily Stone (Granby, CT/Granby) each registered three assists, and Jessica Bellai (Schenectady, NY/Schalmont) earned a game-high three steals
            Harley Cleary was the lone Saxon in double figures with 11 points. Maddi Flint added eight points.
            Hartwick returns to Lambros Arena tomorrow for a meeting with Houghton College. Game time is 5 p.m.