ONEONTA, NY – Holding off Nazareth's late game press, the Hartwick women's basketball team won its eighth game in a row on Friday night, beating the Golden Flyers, 76-56. The win avenges the Hawks' lone conference loss, to Nazareth on the road in the first Empire 8 game of the season. 'Wick takes a firm hold on first place in the conference, with an 8-1 record, and moves to 15-3 overall, matching the program's best start since 2012-13. Nazareth falls to 10-6 (5-2 E8), but still holds on to a playoff spot.
The game was low-scoring early; Hartwick went on a 7-0 run to take a 9-3 lead a little over four minutes in. Nazareth closed the gap to just one, at 13-12, after Erica Bradley sunk a three with about three minutes left in the first quarter, but the Hawks broke it open immediately after, scoring nine straight points to end the quarter up by 10. Alexa DuBois (Hobart, NY/South Kortright) hit a lay-up to start the stretch, and Mary Schoenherr (Unionville, CT/Farmington) followed it right up with a steal and an easy fast-break lay-in. Schoenherr dished to Caitlin Corbett (Altamont, NY/Guilderland) for a three on the next possession, and closed the run with a put-back lay-up off of a Dubois miss. The second quarter played more like the first five minutes of the opening period. 'Wick extended their lead out to as much as 14, but ultimately led by 11 heading into the break.
The Hawks ran their advantage out to 20 thanks to 10-0 run over four-and-a-half minutes in the middle of the third quarter. Carly Johnson (Greenville, NY/Greenville Central) started it with a couple lay-ups, the first assisted by Schoenherr. Maggie Kirby (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) continued by getting fouled after an offensive rebound and sinking the ensuing free throws, and Corbett put in another lay-up from Schoenherr on the next possession. Molly Kirby (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) made it 59-39 via yet another Schonherr assist. After three, Hartwick was in firm control, leading 61-43.
True to their name, Nazareth came out flying in the final quarter, utilizing a full court press to try and get back in the game. After Kelly Pine (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls) made 1-of-2 from the free throw line, the Golden Flyers went on a 9-0 run, thanks in part to a pair of steals and a block. Right after Jadyn Abrams made a lay-up to make the margin just 10 points, though, Maggie Kirby answered with a big three-pointer to give the Hawks some more breathing room. That turned out to be the start of Hartwick's largest run of the game, as they scored 11 unanswered points to seal the game and take a 21-point lead with 3:03 left. The rest was a formality, with the Hawks leading by 20 when the final buzzer sounded.
Corbett had an excellent sequel to her 34-point, 12-rebound performance against Utica on Tuesday. She led all players with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting (2-of-4 from deep), just missed a double-double with nine rebounds, and had a season-high six assists. She is now just five points away from becoming the 16th member of the 1000-point club. Schoenherr was also not far off from a double-double, as she paired her ten points with eight assists, and also grabbed five rebounds and two steals. Pine had two steals as well, tied Corbett for the team high of nine rebounds, and had six points. Johnson was the second-leading scorer on the team, with 13 points, and the Kirby sisters each potted double-digit points. Maggie had 12 points, five rebounds, and a steal, while Molly had 11 points and two rebounds.
Hartwick shot nearly 50% from the field, making 29-of-59 shots, easily outpacing Nazareth's 29.7%. They also had an advantage, albeit a slighter one, from beyond the arc, 33.3% to 27.6%. The Hawks outrebounded the visitors, 43-39, but the Golden Flyers had the advantage on the offensive boards, 16-12, and a smaller lead in second-chance points, 14-13. Hartwick narrowly won the turnover battle, giving it up 13 times to Nazareth's 15, but had a much larger conversion percentage off of turnovers, with 18 points off of turnovers to the Golden Flyers' nine.
Nazareth's Rachel Benedict had a double-double, scoring 16 points and hauling in a game-high 13 rebounds. Abrams led the team in scoring, with 18 points, and also contributed a little in each other category, with two rebounds, two steals, one assist, and one block.
The Hawks have a quick turnaround for their next game, as they play The Sage Colleges for the first time this season in Lambros Arena at 2 p.m. tomorrow.
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