ELMIRA, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's basketball team got back in the win column on Tuesday night as the Cardinals defeated Elmira College, 58-50, on the road inside Speidel Gymnasium.  With the win, Fisher improved to 9-5 on the season and 3-2 in the Empire 8 standings while the Soaring Eagles closed out the day at 4-8, 0-3, respectively.

The lead would change hands four times over the opening two minutes before a layup by Julia Mertsock sparked an 8-0 run that staked the Cardinals to a 12-5 lead.  As the quarter continued, Fisher pushed the pace, but was unable to pull away as the Soaring Eagles cut the deficit to two points heading into the second period.

Holding an 18-16 lead to begin the frame, Sydney Masna gave the visitors some breathing room with a 3-pointer on a feed from Elle Lazore as part of an 11-3 run to open up a 29-19 edge.  Elmira weathered the storm, however, and countered with a run of its own as the Soaring Eagles used an 8-0 burst to pull to within two points before Masna halted the bleeding with a bucket in the paint to send both teams into their locker rooms with the Cardinals ahead, 31-27.

As the third quarter got underway, Elmira carried its momentum from the first half over and eventually turned a deficit into a three-point lead before the Cardinals found their footing and closed out the stanza with four unanswered points to take a 42-41 advantage into the fourth.

Leading by one point with 10 minutes left to play, Fisher dumped the ball inside as Ella Eckert and Mertsock combined to score the team's first 10 points of the period as Fisher jumped ahead by seven, 52-45, with time running out.  Elmira would make it a three-point game with four quick points, but the Cardinals put the game out of reach after scoring six of the contest's final eight points to earn the hard-fought conference decision.

Eckert led the way for Fisher with a career-high 14 points to go along with six rebounds while Mertsock accounted for 11 points and eight boards in 33 minutes.  Erin Hulbert played 23 minutes and finished with six points, six rebounds and three assists while Mallory Wood added seven points and hauled in three rebounds in the win.  Masna contributed 12 points and three steals.

Fisher will continue its play on the road at 5:30 p.m. on Friday when the Cardinals travel to Utica to take on the Pioneers in an Empire 8 meeting.