ONEONTA, N.Y. – Sophomore Sydney Masna finished with a double-double as the third-seeded St. John Fisher College women's basketball team overpowered second-seeded Nazareth College, 71-55, on Friday night in the semifinal round of the Empire 8 Championship inside Lambros Arena.  With the win, Fisher improved to 19-7 on the season and will advance to take on top-seeded Hartwick College at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday with the winner earning the Empire 8 title and an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Championship.

Masna finished with a game-high 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds.  Senior Erin Hulbert, who was named the Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year earlier in the day, added 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals while Ella Eckert, who earned an Honorable Mention All-Conference nod, posted 11 points of her own along with eight rebounds.  Leah Koonmen delivered nine points in 32 minutes while Julia Mertsock contributed eight points and four boards.

The Cardinals scored on the game's opening possession and never looked back as Fisher sprinted out to a double-digit lead after the first quarter of play.  After jumping ahead by 13 points to begin the second quarter, the Cardinals' momentum faded as Nazareth climbed back into contention with an 11-0 run to make it a two-point game, 23-21 in Fisher's favor. 

As the period continued, a 3-pointer from Hulbert gave the Cardinals a six-point cushion before Nazareth pulled to within two points with a modest 4-0 burst.  From there, the Golden Flyers put Hulbert at the line for three shots as the senior knocked down 2-of-3 to stake Fisher to a 31-27 edge at halftime.

Coming out of the break, head coach Melissa Kuberka's squad would push its lead to nine points when Miranda Lynch buried a triple, but Nazareth continued to hang around and would claw its way to within five points with one quarter left to play.

As the final frame got underway, both teams went in different directions with the Cardinals finding their stride while Nazareth seemed to run out of gas.  Holding a five-point advantage, the Cardinals reeled off seven straight points to open up a double-digit lead.  After swapping baskets over the next two minutes, the Cardinals scored 10 of the game's next 12 points to hold a 15-point edge, 65-50, with under three minutes to play.

The Golden Flyers would cut the deficit to 12 points, but were never able to mount a threat as the Cardinals scored the game's final four points to clinch their second straight appearance in the Empire 8 finale.

Overall, the Cardinals were 26-of-50 (.520) from the floor and knocked down 16-of-24 attempts at the line.  Fisher held a significant advantage in rebounding after hauling down 44 boards against just 26 for the Golden Flyers.