ONEONTA, NY – A three-pointer from Danielle Cleary with 17.4 seconds left turned a one-point deficit into a two-point lead for visiting Elmira which came away with a 59-56 victory over Hartwick's women's basketball team on Friday night at Lambros Arena.
            Following an Elmira foul, Hartwick's Emily Stone (Granby, CT/Granby) went to the line and made one of two with 9.8 seconds left to cut the deficit to one but Cleary sank a pair from the stripe 1.4 seconds later to push the EC lead back to three, 57-54.
            The Hawks missed on a three-point attempt to tie but Taylor Vonasek (Willington, CT/E.O. Smith) came down with the offensive board and put-back to make it 57-56 with just 0.3 ticks left. Kelsey Geisler then hit both her free throws after a Hawk foul and 'Wick didn't have enough time for a final shot.
            With the loss, the Hawks slip to 4-10 overall and 2-3 in the Empire 8. The Soaring Eagles improve to 6-7 and 3-2.
            Vonasek finished with a game-high 17 points for Hartwick. Jacqui Foreman (Tolland, CT/Tolland) added 12 points and Stone tallied nine points.
            Cleary ended the game with a team-high 16 points, including a 4-of-5 showing from three-point range for Elmira. Meghan Loya contributed 14 points and a game-high seven boards and Alex Balara chipped in with 10 points.
            In the first half, Elmira jumped in front with a 5-0 run to open up a seven-point margin, 17-10, with under 11 minutes to play. The Hawks trimmed the margin to three but back-to-back three's from Cleary gave the Soaring Eagles their biggest lead of the night, 24-15, just over a minute later.
            Hartwick cut its deficit to two three times over the remainder of the half, but a layup from Balara and a triple from Cleary handed EC a 31-24 edge at halftime.
             Three times in the first seven minutes of the second half, the Hawks found themselves down by nine points but they refused to give in. A three from Sarah Shaw (Franklin, MA/Franklin) and then two buckets from Stone tied the game at 44-44 with under eight minutes to play.
            The score would be tied six times and with six lead changes in a furious final eight minutes of action. A free throw from Christina Graziadei (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany) with 4:50 remaining gave Hartwick its first lead of the night. Later, a free throw from Courtney Cirillo (Johnstown, NY/Johnstown) gave 'Wick its final lead, 53-52, with 1:46 to go. The Hawks had a chance to add to their total but couldn't covert before Cleary's three with 18 ticks left pushed EC ahead for good.
            The Soaring Eagles were hot in the first half shooting almost 60% from the floor. They finished the game shooting 47.7% (21-for-44). The Hawks shot 43.8% (21-for-48) as a group. EC also had a slight edge in rebounding, 30-28. The Hawks struggled from the foul line making only 52.4% (11-for-21) in the game. EC hit 80% (12-for-15) in the contest.
            Shaw would finish the game with six points off the bench. Graziadei scored five points, grabbed six boards, and tied a career-high with five blocked shots.
            The Hawks host Ithaca College tomorrow at 2 p.m. in another Empire 8 Conference tilt.