ONEONTA, NY – The big shot came from St. John Fisher's Leah Koonmen on Saturday, as she drained a three-pointer from the corner with under five seconds to go, breaking a 68-68 tie and eventually lifting the Cardinals to a 73-69 victory over Hartwick at Lambros Arena. It is Hartwick's second close loss of the season to the Empire 8 leaders, as they drop to 11-10 overall and 5-5 in the conference. Fisher keeps hold of the top spot in the conference with four games to go, as they are now 15-6 overall and 8-2 in the E8.
The first half did not foretell such a tight ending, as Fisher led 19-12 after one and 38-28 after two. With a slim 12-10 lead and 3:49 left in the first quarter, the Cardinals scored seven points over 1:34 to grab a 19-10 lead. Amy Gardner and Miranda Lynch got the first two buckets via Mallory Wood assists, and Koonmen finished it off with a three. Two Taylor Verboven (Columbia, CT/E.O. Smith) free throws brought the deficit to seven after one.
Mary Schoenherr (Unionville, CT/Farmington) knocked down a trey on the first possession of the second stanza, making the score 19-15, but the Fisher lead was out to eight at 25-17 on a Julia Mertsock lay-up two-and-a-half minutes later. 'Wick again cut the lead down soon after, thanks to a Schoenherr-assisted Kelly Pine (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls) shot from deep followed by a Schoenherr steal and score. The Cardinals showed why they are at the top of the Empire 8 heap, though, and got the lead out to 13 (their largest lead of the game) at 36-23 on an Ella Eckert lay-up with 2:04 on the clock. Hartwick scored the next five, including four from Schoenherr, but Fisher's Harper Mead knocked down a jumper with five seconds on the clock to bring the lead back to double digits at the break.
After some back-and-forth fouling to begin the third, the Hawks began to make their move about two minutes in. Trailing 44-35, Giuliana Pritchard (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam) hit a three at 7:49, assisted by Kayley Ericson (Franklin, CT/Norwich Free Academy), and then returned the favor by assisting an Ericson lay-up on the next go-around. A couple minutes went by without a score, but were broken when Taylor Kurs (Rego Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) stole away the ball shortly after a Fisher defensive rebound and dished to Molly Kirby (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem), who canned a three to make it a 44-43 game.
The Cardinals were able to get their lead back to five with under three minutes to go, but Ericson tied the game for the first time since 3-all with 18 seconds remaining in the period. Eckert had a great chance to give her squad the lead back headed into the fourth, but missed a lay-up. After three, the two sides were deadlocked at 51.
Pritchard knocked down two free throws 1:02 into the fourth for the quarter's first points, giving 'Wick their first lead of the game. Fisher took the lead back with the next four points but were quickly negated by a Schoneherr jumper. Lynch responded on the other end with a three-pointer, but again, after just over two minutes of scoreless play, Pritchard drained a three to tie the game at 58 with 5:04 to go.
Eckert hit two of four from the charity stripe over the next 40-plus seconds. Schoenherr, who was particularly on-fire en route to a career-high 23 points, gave Hartwick a 61-60 lead on a three-pointer their next possession, and drew a foul and canned two free throws at 3:50 after Eckert took the lead back just before. Another 80 seconds went by without scoring before Eckert worked her magic again on a lay-up to grab a 64-63 lead, but again 'Wick tied it not long after when Maggie Kirby (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) went one-of-two from the line with 1:55 to go.
Lynch quickly responded on the other end, drawing a foul and hitting two of her own free throws, but Kirby came up clutch from the line by knocking down two more free throws, tying the game at 66-66. The Cardinals were able to get back to the line again, however, as Gardner made two of two with 56 seconds on the clock. The teams each missed an opportunity for further points on their next possessions, and Ericson took full advantage, driving into the paint and banking in a left-handed lay-up to again knot the score at 68 with 21 seconds remaining. That score was not to last, however, as Koonmen made her three with 4.1 seconds on the scoreboard after Gardner found her wide open in the corner.
Coach Katie Marcella called a timeout to draw up a good look from beyond the arc, but Maggie Kirby was fouled before she could get a shot off and went to the line. She hit the first and intentionally missed the second, but Lynch grabbed the rebound and was fouled with 0.7 seconds left and a 71-69 lead. Once she hit both of her free throws it was all over but the shouting, as although Marcella took a timeout and Maggie Kirby got a decent look from beyond the arc, there was not close to enough time for two scores.
Schoenherr was superb throughout as she set a new career-high in points for the third time this season, at 23. She also grabbed five rebounds, had two steals, and an assist. Pritchard notched 15 points and seven boards, as well as a game-high four steals, a block, and an assist. Maggie Kirby was the only other Hawk in double digits, at 11 points to go with four rebounds.
Eckert was impressive all day for the visitors, putting up a game-high 24 points. She also picked up eight rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Lynch ended up with 19 points, including 4-of-6 from downtown, and had five rebounds, two blocks, a steal, and an assist. Mertsock registered the day's only double-double, via 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 10 rebounds, as well as three assists and two steals. Gardner had a well-rounded stat line, at eight points, six rebounds, a game-high five assists, and a steal.
Both teams shot reasonably well, especially from three. Fisher was at 43.3% from the field and 42.9% from deep, while Hartwick ended up shooting 40.4% overall and 46.2% from beyond the arc. The Cardinals dominated the boards, however, outrebounding Hartwick 45-27 overall and 14-4 on the offensive glass, leading to a 15-5 advantage in second-chance points. The hosts did have better ball security, turning it over 11 times to Fisher's 17, and ending up with a 15-9 lead in points off of turnovers as a result.
The Hawks return to the court at 4 p.m. in Lambros Arena tomorrow, in what is essentially a must-win if they want to keep their playoff hopes alive. They take on Nazareth, one of three teams tied for second place in the Empire 8 at 7-3. A win over the Golden Flyers would bring the Hawks within a game of a playoff spot and give them the first playoff tiebreaker, as they brought down Nazareth on their own floor earlier in the year.
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