CLINTON, N.Y. – Sophomore
Claire Kruszka tallied a career-high 24 points as the St. John Fisher College women's basketball team held on for a 76-69 win against Hamilton College on Saturday afternoon at Margaret Bundy Scott Field House. The Cardinals improved to 2-0 with the win, while the Continentals were forced to even its season record to 1-1.
A first-minute jumper from Kruszka and a knock-down three from
Sidney Tomasso sparked a 14-3 Cardinals lead through the first quarter of play. The hosts battled to bring the score back within nine points, but
Anna Milham connected on an and-one opportunity, followed by a Kruszka jumper, to extend the deficit to 14 headed into the second quarter. Hamilton once again whittled away at the buffer, but six-straight Fisher points, followed by back-to-back daggers from downtown by
Miranda Lynch and a final Kruszka trey gave the Cardinals a 21-point lead at the intermission.
Out of the half, the teams exchanged baskets, before
Leah Koonmen nailed a jumper to ignite an eight-point run over the next two and a half minutes, stretching the Cardinals' lead to a game-high 26. Over the next quarter, Hamilton went on a run of their own to outscore the visitors 23-9. With time running down, Hamilton came within five points of the Cardinals, but Kruszka came up in the clutch once more with a pair of sunken free throws to finish the contest with a seven-point cushion.
Despite turning the ball over 24 times, Fisher shot 46.7 percent from the floor and out-rebounded their opponents, 48-31.
Kruzska went 10-for-18 from the field with two threes, five rebounds and four assists in her career-best performance. Senior Lynch shot 50 percent from deep to tally 11 points, five rebounds and three assists, while classmate Koonmen combined for 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Milham shot a perfect 3-for-3 from the field for nine points and corralled ten rebounds while newcomer Tomasso also tallied nine points with four rebounds and four assists.
Fisher now takes its untainted record into this weekend's Mark's Pizzeria Crosstown Shootout as they host a pair of Rochester rivals in the tournament, including RIT at 8 P.M. on Thursday night, followed by the University of Rochester at 8 P.M. on Saturday night.
