Score: Elmira College 68, Alfred University 61
Records: Elmira (8-17, 5-11 E8), Alfred (2-23, 1-15 E8)
Location: Alfred, NY - Terry S. Galanis Family Arena

Alfred, NY -- The Elmira College women's basketball team concluded the 2015-16 season with a 68-61 victory over Alfred University Saturday afternoon.

The Soaring Eagles took a slim 27-21 lead into the locker room at the halftime intermission. EC then outscored the Saxons 24-14 in the third quarter to help Soaring Eagles equal their largest lead of the game at 16 points. Danielle Cleary '18 extended the Elmira lead to 44-32 with a three-pointer at the 2:07 mark in the third quarter. Allie Olsen '16 scored a trey of her own inside the final 10 seconds of the third to make it a 51-35 EC advantage.

The Saxons didn't go down without a fight, however. Alfred trimmed the deficit to single digits midway through the fourth quarter. A jumper from Taylor Kelley with 1:06 remaining brought Alfred within six points, 62-56. Elmira converted its six free throws attempts down the stretch to hold onto the win.

In Their Own Words...
Head Coach Shannon Howley on ending the season with a victory...
"Obviously, it is tough when we don't reach our goal of playoffs, but that does mean we get to end our season with a win and have our seniors end their careers with a win."

Coach Howley on the adjustment her team made at halftime to propel EC to a big third quarter...
"We just needed to run our offense better. We were stagnant and we needed to be more aggressive."

Coach Howley on Danielle Cleary's big game...
"Danielle played within herself and the offense. She let the shots come to her and she got to the foul line in the second half."

Coach Howley on the performance of Meghan Loya in her final game...
"Meg was huge on the boards and did a great job guarding Alfred's Amanda Off. When we went to her in the second half she was more aggressive and made buckets."

Turning Point
The Soaring Eagles led the entire second quarter, but the advantage at halftime was only six points. EC then took control of the game in the third quarter. Elmira was 8-for-14 from the field (57.1-percent) in the third quarter alone. Olsen's three-pointer to end the period only added salt to the wound and gave the Purple and Gold a comfortable 16-point cushion with 10 minutes to play.

Inside the Box

• Elmira shot 32.8-percent (21-for-64) from the field, slightly better than Alfred's 30.2 field-goal percentage (19-for-63).
• Each team made four three-pointers.
• EC converted 22-of-25 free throw attempts, while the Saxons made 19-of-27.
• Alfred out-rebounded EC, 47-to-45.
• Cleary led all scorers with 24 points off of 6-for-17 shooting from the floor and 9-for-11 from the line.
• Meghan Loya '16 recorded her fourth career double-double with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
• Marissa Silverman '17 scored eight points to go along with three rebounds, two blocks, and one steal.
• Four Saxons finished with double figures. Amanda Off, Sarah Kichman and McKaylee Croll each scored 12 points.

News and Notes

• Elmira finishes the 2015-16 season with an 8-17 overall record and 5-11 mark inside the Empire 8 Conference.
• EC swept the season series against Alfred University for the fourth consecutive season.
• Cleary scored 20-plus for the ninth time this season.
• With nine more made free throws, Cleary ends her sophomore campaign with 116, second-most in a season. With 225 in her career, the Rochester, NY, native is fifth all-time in program history.
• Cleary also finished the season with 403 points, the sixth-highest single-season total.
• Loya's double-double was the second of her senior season and fourth of her career.
• Loya moved into fourth-place all-time in program history with 597 career rebounds, surpassing former All-American Jessica Zoltowski '14.