ROCHESTER, NY – For the third-straight season, the Nazareth women's hoops teams squared off against East Avenue rival St. John Fisher in the Empire 8 Championship, falling Saturday to the top seed, 78-55. Fisher won in 2021-22, 83-52, while Nazareth won in 2020-21, 67-62.
 
Freshman Brielle Reidinger led the Golden Flyers with 13 points and seven boards.
 
Nazareth finishes the season, 19-8 overall, the most the most wins since 1999-2000, when the Golden Flyers went 19-9. Fisher went the entire season without losing an Empire 8 game, with a 25-2 mark and earning the automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championships.
 
In the first, Nazareth quickly found itself trailing 8-2, before scoring the next five points, Fisher held a slight 14-12 lead after the first quarter.
 
The second quarter was where the Cardinals did their most damage, outscoring Nazareth by 10 and taking a 35-23 lead into the break thanks to shooting nearly 65 percent in the quarter.
 
Fisher steadily added to its lead in the third and then maintained over a 20-point cushion from the 7:30 mark of the fourth until the end of the game.
 
Jadyn Abrams was the only other Golden Flyer with double figures, finishing with 12 points
 
Sarah Simmons and Katie MacLachlan each added eight points.