ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University women's basketball team won its second game in a row when the Saxons topped non-conference foe, SUNY Canton 98-88, Saturday night at the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena.
 
Before the game, the Saxons honored seniors Emilea Harrison (Conesus, NY/Dansville) and Harley Cleary (Rochester, NY/Our Lady of Mercy). Both soon-to-be-alumni finished the game in double-digits in scoring but it was Cleary's career-high 32 points that led the Saxons to a win over the visiting Kangaroos.
 
Cleary was 10-of-23 and 6-of-13 from the arc while making 6-of-10 from the free throw line. She also added a team-high of five steals in the Saxons' season-high scoring effort (AU bested Penn Tech College 101-44 on Sunday, December 8, 2013 at home).
 
Freshman McKaylee Croll (Perry, NY/Perry) followed Cleary's performance with 23 points and seven assists while having a perfect showing from the charity line. Sophomore Amanda Off (New Berlin, NY/Unadilla Valley) posted 18 points and added four rebounds.
 
Sophomore Maddi Flint (Caledonia, NY/Caledonia-Mumford) hit 50 percent of her field goals for a 12-point evening and Harrison finished with her 11 points and a team-high nine boards.
 
The Saxons held the distinct advantage of the shooting game from outside of the paint, having only made 32 of their 98 points from within the purple strip while 56 of Canton's 88 points were from layups and inside jumpers.
 
Canton's Taylor Saltus led the Roos with 30 points, having scored 24 of them in the first half with the majority coming off of fast breaks.
 
In a game that saw three lead changes and was in the hands of the visiting Kangaroos during almost the entire first half, the Saxons cut a Canton eight-point lead to one and then claimed a 45-44 advantage going into halftime with the help of freshman Taylor Kelley (Andover, NY/Andover), Off and five points from Croll with 1:40 left.
 
Canton responded immediately after the break with a three-pointer from Logan Tallman for a 47-45 Kangaroo lead. Flint brought things even again at 18:54 with a jumper to make it 47-47. On the next possession, Off stole the ball from Saltus which opened up a Cleary three-pointer off a Harrison assist to give the Saxons a 50-47 advantage. AU never looked back as they built their lead to as much as 13 points deep into the second 20 minutes.
 
The Saxons will next host Empire 8 foe, St. John Fisher College on Tuesday, February 17 at 6:00 pm at the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena. The game will be the last home contest for Alfred University on the 2014-15 season before taking to the road for its final two games of the season at Utica and Elmira Colleges