ONEONTA, NY – A layup from sophomore Christina Graziadei (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany) with 34 seconds left broke a 56-all tie and pushed the Hartwick women's basketball team to a 58-56 victory over Alfred Saturday at Lambros Arena. With the win, the Hawks improve to 3-7 overall and 2-0 in the Empire 8. It marks the fourth consecutive season they have started the conference slate with two victories.
            The Hawks held a seven-point edge, 56-49, with 3:38 following Sarah Shaw's (Franklin, MA/Franklin) three-point basket but the Saxons scored the next seven points in a 1:43 span to tie the game up with 1:41 left. Neither team converted on their next possessions but would Graziadei put the Hawks in front. With 15 ticks left, Alfred's Hailey Sick missed on a layup and a foul put the Hawks on the line.
            'Wick missed the front-end of a one-and-one and the Saxons had the ball with 5.7 seconds left at midcourt. After in-bounding the ball, Harley Cleary dribbled off her foot and out of bounds giving the ball back to the Hawks. They got the ball in to sophomore Courtney Cirillo (Johnstown, NY/Johnstown) and she ran out the clock for the win.
            Graziadei finished with a double-double of a team- and career-high 15 points and a game-best 10 rebounds for the Hawks. She also dished out four assists. Shaw, who played a key role off the bench in the second half, finished with a career-high nine points, including three big three-pointers. 
            Taylor Vonasek (Willington, CT/E.O. Smith) added nine points and seven rebounds. Cirillo scored eight points and Emily Stone (Granby, CT/Granby) contributed five points and eight boards.
            In the first half, Hartwick led by as many as seven points. A 7-3 run to close the half for the Saxons trimmed the deficit to three, 29-26, at the break.
            The Hawks maintained their lead in a tight, low-scoring opening ten minutes of the second half. A three-pointer from Cleary put Alfred in front for the first time in the second half at 7:40 but a Graziadei jumper a little over two minutes later put the Hawks ahead for keeps. It was the first points in 7-0 runs for both teams before the deciding Graziadei bucket.
            The Hawks shot 37% as a team with the Saxons shooting slightly better at 39.6%. Both teams finished even in rebounds 38-38. Hartwick outscored Alfred 34-22 in the paint and the Hawks scored 15 points off turnovers to the Saxons' seven. The 'Wick bench outscored Alfred's 30-2 on the night.
            Jacqui Foreman (Tolland, CT/Tolland) turned in six points and three rebounds for the Hawks in the contest. Jess Bellai (Schenectady, NY/Schalmont) added three points, four boards, and three assists.            
            The Hawks take their two-game win streak into a non-conference meeting at Lambros Arena on Tuesday night against Skidmore. Tip-off is 7 p.m.