ALFRED, NY – The Hartwick women's basketball fell short on the road this Saturday, staying one game behind the fourth and final Empire 8 playoff spot after their 60-55 loss to Alfred. The loss drops the Hawks to 13-11 overall and 7-6 in-conference, while the Saxons are now 7-16 on the season and 3-10 in the E8.
A close first quarter ended with the hosts in front by a bucket. Molly Kirby's (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) fast break basket under three minutes in gave 'Wick a 6-3 lead, which the Hawks more-or-less maintained for several minutes down to 11-8 with under three minutes to go in the quarter. Bri Hicks tied the game at 11 with a three-pointer, however, and the Saxons ended up leading 15-13 after one.
Another low-scoring quarter saw Alfred extend their lead to eight by the half. The Saxons led by as much as six in the period before Mary Schoenherr (Unionville, CT/Farmington) narrowed the score to 26-23 with 4:20 on the clock. Alfred had the upper hand for the rest of the first twenty minutes, though, as a Jamie Wilcox jumper and Amanda Figueroa fast break three gave them a 31-23 lead after two.
The home side's lead held for the bulk of the third. Hartwick cut the lead to five over three minutes in and again with just over a minute to go, while the Saxons twice led by ten midway through the period after Ana Ion jumpers. Gillian Flint's three on the quarter's final shot, however, made it a 48-39 advantage headed to the fourth.
'Wick made their move to start the fourth. Giuliana Pritchard (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam) began an 8-0 run that saw four different Hawks score, and Maggie Kirby (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) ended it with a jumper while the clock showed 4:51 to make the score 48-47. Ion hit a jumper a couple times down the floor to bring the margin back to three, but Molly Kirby hit a shot to cut the score back to 50-49. That was as close as Hartwick got, however.
Flint hit a jumper next time down the floor, and the Hawks missed a couple threes to tie over the next couple minutes. The Saxons would extend their lead and hold on for the win, withstanding a Schoenherr trey with five seconds left that temporarily made it a one-possession game.
Molly Kirby led the Hawks with 16 points, two off the game high, and had six rebounds, a game-high-tying three steals, and a block as well. Schoenherr ended up at 14 points, hitting double digits for the fourth time in five games and picking up seven boards, two assists, and two steals to boot. Maggie Kirby registered eight points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals, and Pritchard put up 10 rebounds, five points, and assist, and a block.
Wilcox led the way for the Saxons with a double-double, at 13 points and 14 rebounds. She also led all comers with six assists, and tied for the game high at three steals as well. Hicks had the game's second-highest point totals, at 17 on 4-of-9 from the field, but Flint showed out off the bench with a game-high 18 points on 7-of-10 from the field and 4-of-5 from three. Ion had a well-rounded stat line, at six points and six rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block.
Alfred had the clear upper hand, shooting-wise. They shot 42.0% to Hartwick's 31.7% from the field and 37.5% to just 14.3% from three. 'Wick did outshoot the Saxons 73.7% to 47.4% from the charity stripe. The battle on the boards was even, although the Hawks just edged their hosts, 40-39, and an 11-5 lead on the offensive glass led to just a 4-0 difference in second chance points. The Hawks also won the turnover battle, at 11 to 13, and had a significant 13 to 4 lead in points off of turnovers as a result.
It all comes down to next Saturday, February 22, for Hartwick. They need a win over Elmira at home, with a 4 p.m. tip, and hope for a Nazareth loss to first-place Fisher to give them a playoff berth.
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