ONEONTA, NY – Hartwick had the ball on the final possession but couldn't convert in a 53-52 loss to visiting Nazareth on Saturday at Lambros in the final game of the season for the Hawks.
           With ten minutes left in the second half the Hawks trailed by 11 points but they fought back to grab one-point leads twice in a two-minute span. Down three with under three minutes remaining, an Emily Stone (Granby, CT/Granby) layup with 1:21 left brought the Hawks to within one, 53-52. The Hawks got the ball back with 11.4 second to go and called timeout to draw up a play. Taylor Vonasek (Willington, CT/E.O. Smith) drove to the basket but her shot attempt in traffic wouldn't go allowing the Golden Flyers to escape with the victory.
            Vonasek led all scorers with 18 points for 'Wick. Stone added 15 points and hit a trio of three-pointers and Courtney Cirillo (Johnstown, NY/Johnstown) chipped in with 11 points and tied for a team-high with six rebounds. Jess Bellai (Schenectady, NY/Schalmont) also had six rebounds to go along with game-highs of four assists and three steals.
            Nazareth led by as many as 11 points in the first half of play. The Golden Flyers' advantage grew to 13 twice in the second half before the Hawks began to mount their comeback. A Hayley Spoljaric layup gave the visitors a 46-35 edge with 10:03 left, but a 12-0 run would hand the Hawks the lead. Cirillo scored five points in the spurt, including an acrobatic layup as she fell to the floor to tie it and her subsequent free throws made it 47-46 Hawks.
            The lead changed hands four times with three tie scores in the next two and a half minutes until a Melissa Rivers' free throw would put Nazareth up to stay with 3:51 showing on the clock. Two Lindsay Kelly free throws with 2:47 left pushed the Naz lead to three before Stone's layup with 81 seconds left closed out the scoring.
            The Flyers were led by Kelly's 15 points and 10 rebounds. Sam Sorge was also in double figures with 12 points.
            The game marked the final one for four-year senior Rachel Hunt (Penfield, NY/Penfield) who was honored for her contributions to the program prior to the game. She finished with four points and an assist.
            Hartwick wraps up its season with a 7-18 overall record and a 5-11 mark in the Empire 8. The Golden Flyers improve to 15-10 and 10-6 and will play in the E8 semifinals next weekend.