ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University women's basketball team took over in the fourth quarter of a tough matchup with Elmira College to come away with a 10 point victory. The Saxons (7-15, 3-10 Empire 8) avenged an earlier season loss to the Soaring Eagles with a 67-57 win at Terry S. Galanis family Arena.
AU found itself in an early hole, down 7-0 to Elmira. A pair of layups from Amanda Figueroa (Cypress, TX/Rosehill Christian) put Alfred on the scoreboard and got the offense moving. The soaring Eagles went on some short runs to extend the lead to as many as 10 but the Saxons worked score down to 17-10 after the first quarter.
The AU defense tightened up in the second period and held Elmira to just 12 points. A fast break layup from Bri Hicks (Burlington, VT/Ithaca) made it a six point game with 3:28 to play in the first half.
With 41 seconds to play in the second quarter, Lyndsey McCoy (Middleburgh, NY/Middleburgh Central) drove through multiple defenders for a layup making the score 25-21 in favor of Elmira. A couple of late layups from the Soaring Eagles made the score 29-21 at halftime.
Elmira began extending its lead once again coming out of the halftime break. Multiple midrange jumpers helped the Soaring Eagles to its biggest lead of the game at the 4:32 mark of the third quarter with the score sitting at 39-26.
A three from McCoy along with long ball from Chanice Battle (Brooklyn, NY/Midwood) brought the Saxons within seven points, making the score 45-38 after three quarters of play.
The fourth quarter was all Saxons, outscoring Elmira 29-12 in the final stanza. Two makes from beyond the arc from McCoy followed by a three from Katlyn Boland (New York, NY/A. Phillip Randolph) fueled an 11-0 run for the Saxons. A couple of made free throws from Allison O'Toole (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley) culminated the run and gave AU a 52-46 advantage with 6:43 to play.
From that point, the Saxons put their foot on the gas and extended the lead up to 10 points by the end of regulation, giving them their seventh win of the season, and their most since the 2012-13 season. The win also gives AU its third Empire 8 win of the season, the most since the 2010-11 season.
"In the first half, at their [Elmira] place, we defended them really well, we came out with a great urgency and intensity, and to be quite honest, we came out flat today for about the first 27 minutes," Head Coach Mike Moskowitz said. "Then in the second half, we hit eight three's, so that will help. We had 12 assists on 14 field goals, we were 12-of-14 from the line and we limited their second-chance points by only allowing them four offensive rebounds. All that matters at the end of the day, is that we got a win and got some revenge against them."
McCoy was the high scorer of the game, recording a career high 25 points. She went 5-7 from beyond the arc while grabbing five rebounds and forcing two steals. Hicks also found double figures for AU with 10 points and grabbed a seven boards. Jamie Wilcox (Forestville, NY/Pine Valley) had four assists to lead Alfred and grabbed seven rebounds.
The Saxons will be on the road this Friday for a matchup with Utica College at 5:30PM.