ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University women's basketball team completed the weekend Empire 8 series with a strong 63-49 win over visiting Russell Sage College in the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena on Saturday, following the 52-49 win over Hartwick College on Friday.
 
The Saxons (8-4, 3-3 Empire 8) scored double-digits in all four quarters while holding the Gators (6-5, 2-2 Empire 8) to only five points in the second quarter. AU had three players hit double-digit scoring lines while Sage had two players hit the double-digit mark, including game-leader Syrita Faraj at 29 points. Seven Saxons scored in the game while the Gators only had six players score with two of the players only scoring a point each.
 
"We did a really nice job consistently executing our defensive game plan," Head Coach Mike Moskowitz said. "Syrita [Faraj] is unreal and we knew she'd go score a bunch, but we did great challenging her most of the game and limiting others on easy scoring chances."
 
The Saxons were led by Grace Rittenhouse (Dansville, NY/Dansville) as she had 18 points from two 3-pointers and five scores from under the basket. She also tied with Gillian Flint (Caledonia, NY/Caledonia-Mumford) for a team-high five rebounds. Flint added 11 points to her performance while Felicia Stewart (Ann Arbor, MI/Pioneer) drained 12 points, leading all bench players on Saturday.
 
"That [defensive efforts], combined with a high level of energy from the get-go was what I am most proud of," Coach Moskowitz said. "We gutted out a tough game yesterday and then went out today and really dominated start to finish. They made a bit of a run, but we withstood it with some timely baskets."
 
As a team, AU totaled 13 assists compared to RSC's nine while stealing the ball seven times, compared to five steals for the Gators.
 
Russell Sage only gained the lead one time throughout the game with a pair of early free throws from Lauren Sanderson, making it a 4-3 Gator advantage. A free throw from Flint and a jumper from Rittenhouse gave the Saxons the lead, in which they never relinquished for the remainder of play. The Gators did, however, tie the ballgame at 10-10 in the first quarter with a Faraj jumper before Stewart drained a jumper of her own in the paint on the next possession.
 
After a dominant second quarter, the Saxons went into the half with a 14-point, 33-19 lead, but earned their largest lead of the game with an 18-point advantage in the third quarter as Rebecca Jewett (Nyack, NY/Nyack) popped a jumper in from the lane with 2:34 remaining the period. The Saxons' lead never dropped below an 11-point advantage for the rest of the game.
 
Other top scorers for AU were Leah Harkenrider (Hornell, NY/Hornell) with nine points and Allison O'Toole (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley) with six points.
 
"We're thrilled to go 2-0 on the weekend and excited to get some rest and treatment before next weekend's games," Coach Mosk said.
 
The Saxons will next take on another Empire 8 weekend as they travel to Keuka College on Friday, January 13 for a 5:30pm tip-off. Then, they face Utica University the following day with a 2:00pm road start.