PITTSFORD, NY – The Alfred University women's basketball team traveled to Nazareth College on Tuesday for an Empire 8 matchup with the Golden Flyers. The Saxons (5-8, 1-3 Empire 8) fell to the Golden Flyers 48-62.
AU started hot from beyond the arc, with a pair of triples from Jamie Wilcox (Forestville, NY/Pine Valley) and Lyndsey McCoy (Middleburgh, NY/Middleburgh Central) to go up 6-0. Nazareth then responded with five unanswered to pull within one before Wilcox knocked in her second long ball of the first quarter to go up 9-5.
After two free throws were converted by Nazareth, McCoy converted her second three-point attempt of the evening and the Saxons were out to a 15-8 lead after one quarter of play.
The second quarter was a defensive struggle, with the scoring totaling 12 points for the two teams combined. Wilcox scored all six of the Saxons points in the second period and the teams headed into the break with Alfred leading 21-14 over Nazareth.
"We did a tremendous job communicating and being active on the defensive end in the first half. We defended the post very well and got out to shooters with an urgency we haven't yet seen," Head Coach Mike Moskowitz said. "However, we got a bit stagnant in the first half offensively and should have had more than a seven point lead for as well as we played defensively," Moskowitz said.
The Second half was a different story for both teams as AU picked up where they left off in the second quarter, struggling to find buckets, while the Golden Flyers heavily increased their offensive output, shooting 50 percent from three-point land.
"They exploited us on the three point line in the second half, going 8 of 16. The urgency, communication, and getting out to shooters that was there in the first half was a step slower in the second half," Moskowitz said.
A 12-0 run by Nazareth in the middle minutes of the quarter and a 7-0 run to close out the period, allowed for the Golden Flyers to take the lead and head into the fourth leading 39-32.
Another three from Wilcox and a layup in the paint from Bri Hicks (Burlington, VT/Ithaca) pulled Alfred within two points to open up the final quarter. Immediately following, Nazareth began an 8-0 run to increase its lead to 10 points. From that point, the Golden Flyers continued to increase their lead and eventually came away with the 14 point victory to improve to 8-5 overall and 3-1 in the Empire 8.
"We continued to battle and show some fight throughout the second half, which is encouraging to see as we continue to improve daily," Moskowitz said.
Wilcox led the Saxons with 17 points while grabbing seven rebounds. McCoy scored 13 while going 3-6 from the three-point line. Hicks had six points, 10 boards and two blocks.
The Saxons will be back in action this Friday as they travel to The Sage Colleges with that one set to tip off at 5:30PM.