TROY, NY – Host Sage outscored Hartwick 37-17 in the second half to pull away for a 64-45 victory in non-conference women's basketball Thursday night at Kahl Gymnasium in Troy. The Gators improve to 5-3 with the victory while the Hawks fall to 1-6 overall.
            'Wick held an 11-point, 25-14 lead in the first half with under three and a half minutes before the break. But the Gators would outscore the Hawks 50-20 the rest of the way. Hartwick struggled shooting the basketball in the second half as it made just five field goals (5-for-24).
            The night started well for the Hawks, who are coached by Jackie Craft. The game marked her return to Kahl after piloting the Gators from 2005-2014, a tenure which included last season's Skyline title and an NCAA Tournament berth. After Sage grabbed an early 5-2 lead, back-to-back buckets from junior Taylor Vonasek (Willington, CT/E.O. Smith) put Hartwick in front for nearly the rest of the half.
            A Sage layup cut the deficit to four points, 15-11, with 9:19 left but a 7-1 Hawks' run over the next four minutes would push the advantage to double digits, 22-12. The Hawks' defense forced the Gators into five missed shots with a pair of turnovers in the span. A three-point play from Vonasek with 3:49 left made it 25-14 but a huge 15-4 Sage swing over the next 2:26 would give the Gators the edge, 27-26, with just over a minute to go before halftime.  
            A Vonasek layup with half a minute remaining gave 'Wick a 28-27 edge heading into the locker room. Sage had no answer for Vonasek in the first half as she scored half of the Hawks' points with 14 and added she added six rebounds.
            Sage jumped in front 30 seconds into the second half on a Megan Bowman layup and it never trailed again. After a Jess Bellai (Schenectady, NY/Schalmont) jumper at 18:19, the Gators scored 10 straight points over the next four and a half minutes to gain a double-digit upper hand, 41-30.  
            Emily Stone (Granby, CT/Granby) connected on a three-pointer making the score 41-33 with 13:01 showing on the clock but the Hawks would go without a field goal for over five minutes until Stone sank a layup at 7:55 to trim the Gator advantage to 13 points, 50-37. The lead grew to 18 after a Bowman triple at 6:48 and 15 points would be as close as the Hawks would get for the remainder of the night.
            Vonasek closed the game with team-highs of 14 points and eight boards. Stone contributed eight points and four rebounds.
             Courtney Cirillo (Johnstown, NY/Johnstown), Anna Hickey (Falmouth, ME/Falmouth), and Jacqui Foreman (Tolland, CT/Tolland) each scored five points for the Hawks. Christina Graziadei (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany Central) pulled down six rebounds with Cirillo adding five.
            Bowman led all scorers with 20 points. She also dished out eight assists to go along with six rebounds and two steals. Genevieve Schoff was also in double figures with 13 points. She added seven rebounds. Carlee Hirt scored 12 points and Amie Jefferson had a game-high nine boards.
            Hartwick is off until December 30 when it travels to Poughkeepsie for a meeting with Vassar College beginning at 7 p.m.