PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's basketball team suffered its first loss in conference play on Tuesday night after falling to the Nazareth College Golden Flyers, 60-57, inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court. With the setback, Fisher moved to 5-2 on the year and 4-1 against conference competition while Nazareth improved to 4-2, 3-1, respectively.
Amy Gardner totaled 18 points and nine rebounds in 37 minutes while
Claire Kruszka finished with 10 points, three boards and a pair of assists.
Kaitlyn Walker notched nine points and had a game-high 11 rebounds while
Anna Milham netted 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
Trailing midway through the second quarter, the Cardinals were looking at a two possession climb after the Golden Flyers buried a 3-pointer from the corner to hold a 21-15 edge. Facing a six-point gap, Fisher held Nazareth to just one field goal and forced its guest into two turnovers over the final four minutes to pull to within two, 23-21, at intermission.
As the second half got underway, Fisher promptly took its first lead of the game when Walker kicked it out to Gardner for a 3-pointer that staked the Cardinals to a 24-23 advantage. The lead would be short-lived, however, as Nazareth rattled off an 8-2 run to push its cushion to five points with 6:46 still remaining the period.
The lead would grow to as many as seven points for the Golden Flyers, but the Cardinals bridged the third and fourth quarters with a 6-2 burst capped off by another triple from Gardner to make it 45-42 in the visitors' favor.
As the quarter wore on, Fisher would pull to within one, but was unable to come up with timely stops on the defensive end of the court as Nazareth used a 6-0 run to push its lead back to seven with just 46 seconds showing on the clock.
With time running out on the comeback bid, Fisher's chances improved as Gardner sank a timely 3-pointer before Milham followed suit with a trifecta of her own to make it a one-point affair, 58-57, with seven seconds to play. Needing a stop, Fisher resorted to fouling and got the ball back down three, but was unable to net the equalizer as the Golden Flyers picked up the critical conference win.
The Cardinals will go for their sixth win of the year at 7 p.m. on Thursday night when they host Medaille College in a non-conference matchup inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court.
