PITTSFORD, NY – The Alfred University women's basketball team was at St. John Fisher College on Saturday afternoon for a matchup with the Cardinals. The Saxons (8-16, 4-11 Empire 8) played Fisher tough in the first and fourth quarters but ultimately fell to the Cardinals by a score of 66-42. 

After falling behind 5-0 to open up the first, Lyndsey McCoy (Middleburgh, NY/Middleburgh Central) put the Saxons on the board with a three-pointer. 

AU went down 10-3 at the 4:02 mark of the first quarter but then stormed back with a 7-2 run led, by Bri Hicks (Burlington, VT/Ithaca) and Jamie Wilcox (Forestville, NY/Pine Valley), to finish the quarter trailing just 12-10 to the Cardinals. 

The Second quarter was troublesome for Alfred as they were outscored 14-4 to St. John Fisher. 

 Back to Back layups in the paint from Hicks made it 15-14 with 5:21 to play in the half but the Cardinals went on an 11-0 run to close out the quarter and went into the halftime break leading 26-14. 

The third quarter brought more offense for the Saxons but created problems on the defensive end. 

Three straight makes from beyond the arc, followed by an old fashioned three-point play, extended the cardinal lead up to 21 points at the 7:20 mark of the third quarter. 

By the end of the period, AU was trailing St. John Fisher 53-26.

The Saxons turned things around in the final quarter and improved their play on both ends of the court. 

More baskets in the paint by Hicks along with a late three from Kelley Andrews (Randolph, NY/Pine Valley) helped Alfred outscore Fisher 16-13 in the fourth quarter and cut the deficit to 24 points by the end of the game.

"Thought we were a bit passive again in the first half and we didn't control the controllable very well," Head Coach Mike Moskowitz said. "Our focus, sense of communication and body language were all poor in the first half. In the second half, we seemed like we wanted to compete a little more, but we let them [St. John Fisher] get hot and execute early, which led to a big quarter. Big day of practice on Monday as we prepare to finish strong versus Nazareth." 

Hicks was the high scorer for AU with 14 points. She also grabbed five rebounds and blocked two shots. Wilcox finished with eight points and five boards while Chanice Battle (Brooklyn, NY/Midwood) had three steals and three assists. 

Alfred will host Nazareth College on Tuesday evening at 5:30PM.