Box Score

The St. John Fisher College women's basketball team fell 56-52 to Elmira College in an Empire 8 Conference matchup Friday night on the campus of the Soaring Eagles. With the loss, the Cardinals fall to 10-11 overall and 6-5 in the conference while Elmira improves to 7-13, 2-7.

Portia Velasco led Fisher with 14 points, while snagging six rebounds and distributing three assists. Brooke Seavitt grabbed 11 boards off the glass while contributing six points. Mary Kate Cusack chipped in nine points while Sydney Bloomstein added eight.

Fisher had to try an overcome a foul discrepancy of 13, as the Cardinals were whistled for infractions 25 times in the contest while Elmira were only caught for 12. The Soaring Eagles struggle from the charity stripe, however, shooting 9-for-29 (31.0%) from the line.

After trailing at the break 26-25, Fisher opened the second half trading baskets and taking a 33-31 advantage. Elmira then went on a 8-0 run to take a 39-33 lead. Fisher strung together a rally of its own, 12-4, concluding with a Bloomstein jumper to give the Cardinals a 45-43 edge. After Elmira tied it at 45-45, Cusack made a layup to give Fisher its last lead of the contest with 7:09 to play.

In the first half, Fisher opened the game on a 6-0 run over 3:30 on its way to leading by as many as 11 points. Bloomstein hit two free throws to give the Cardinals the 11-point lead at 19-8 with 9:35 remaining in the opening period.

Elmira then used its own run to close the gap and eventually take the lead into the locker room at half. Over a 7:59 span, the Soaring Eagles outscored Fisher 18-6 to take a 26-25 lead at the half.

The Cardinals will return to action at 6 p.m. on Tuesday when they travel to face Houghton College.