The St. John Fisher College women's basketball team saw its conference record move to 5-5 after falling to Hartwick College, 73-51, on Saturday at Lambros Arena.

Fisher now sits at 12-8 overall, while the Hawks improve to 16-4 on the season including 9-1 in the Empire 8.

The Cardinals fell behind early in the first half as Hartwick sank three from distance en route to a 16-6 lead with just over 11 minutes left in the opening frame. 

The Hawks continued to apply pressure on the offensive end until the roles were reversed as the Cardinals went on a 12-2 run including a perfect 7-for-7 from the foul line to cut Hartwick's lead to seven points, 25-18. Freshman McKenzie Bezon poured in back-to-back triples during the run.

Fisher, however, wouldn't be able to hold its momentum as Hartwick caught fire to close out the half.  The Hawks drained three from beyond the arc en route to a 10-1 run to close out the first half with a 16-point lead, 37-21.    

Fisher's shooting woes continued in the opening minutes of the second half.  The Cardinals were held scoreless from the field until the 16:44 mark when Mary Kate Cusack connected on a three-pointer to make it 43-26.

The visiting Cardinals would cut the deficit to 13 points after a modest six-point run brought the score to 45-32, but the Hawks would stretch their advantage back to 16 after connecting on three free-throws.

After surrendering eight unanswered points, the Cardinals scored six-straight points of their own to bring the score to 55-43, but that was as close as Fisher would get.  Hartwick would extend its lead to 22 points to seal the win.

Fisher scored nearly half of its points at the charity stripe, shooting 23-for-27 (83%) from the line.  Cusack poured in a game-high 23 points including four from downtown.  Sydney Bloomstein had 12 points to go along with three rebounds, while Portia Velasco tallied six points and two assists.

The Cardinals will play their fourth consecutive road game beginning at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, as Fisher takes on Utica College.  The Cardinals picked up a win on January 18 against the Pioneers by a final score of 77-63.