Third-seeded St. John Fisher College advanced to the finals of the Empire 8 Conference Women's Basketball Championship with a 75-61 win over No. 2 Stevens Institute of Technology on Friday night at Ithaca College.
 
With the win, Fisher improves to 20-6 overall and will face the top-seeded Bombers (22-4) at 4 p.m. on Saturday in the championship game with an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship on the line.
 
The victory marks the first time since 2005-2006 season that Fisher has advanced to the title game and snaps a seven-game losing streak in Empire 8 semifinal action. 
 
It is also the 28^th time in 41 years that Fisher has reached the 20-win plateau.
  
Fisher, who trailed by as many as eight points throughout the first half, tied the game up at 29s on a 3-pointer from Mary Kate Cusack with just under three minutes left in the opening period.
 
The Ducks led 33-31 at the half, but Fisher took the lead for good on a 3-pointer from Cusack with 18:04 left, making it 36-35.   The basket started a 17-0 run over the next 3:30, but Fisher up 50-35.
 
After a Stevens 3-pointer, Fisher answered with a 9-0 run, extending Fisher's lead to 21 at 59-38 with under 10 minutes to go and the Cardinals kept a double-digit lead for the rest of the night.
 
Cusack led the Cardinals with 24 points and three steals, while senior Portia Velasco tallied 16 points and four assists.  Both players grabbed five rebounds and were a combined 6-of-10 from 3-point range.
 
Senior Sydney Bloomstein collected eight points and eight rebounds.  Freshman Nicole Robinson came off the bench and totaled seven points, five boards and three steals, while classmate Lunden Cunningham chipped in with six points.
 
Junior center Bridget Carney added six points, while McKenzie Bezon (six) and Emily Piacentini (four) combined for 10 points.