PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's basketball wrapped up the regular season on Wednesday night with a 90-65 win over visiting Alfred University in an Empire 8 matchup inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court. With the win, Fisher clinched the second overall seed in next week's Empire 8 Championship and moved to 8-2 on the year and 6-1 in the standings. Alfred, which earned the third seed in the four-team tournament, moved to 2-6 on the year and 2-5 against Empire 8 opponents.
These two teams will meet again next Thursday in the semifinal round of the Empire 8 Championship. The game will be played at Fisher on Bobby Wanzer Court at a time yet to be determined.
After struggling to generate much on the offensive end of the floor through the first 20 minutes of play, Fisher came to life in the third quarter. Trailing Alfred, 41-37, the Cardinals strung together eight unanswered points as part of a larger 13-2 burst to open up a seven-point lead, 50-43.
The Saxons looked to keep pace and pulled to within three, 50-47, but the Cardinals scored 10 of the quarter's final 11 points including five from
Amy Gardner to take a double-digit lead into the fourth period.
Ahead by 12 points with 10 minutes left to play in the game, Fisher continued to up the tempo and knocked down five of its next six shots over an 11-2 run to open up a 19-point lead, 74-55.
As the quarter wore on, the Cardinals showed no signs of slowing down as head coach
Melissa Kuberka's squad rattled off 14 of the game's final 19 points including five apiece from
Sam Fischer and
Lauren Robbins.
In all, four players finished in double figures with
Kaitlyn Walker leading the way with a game-high 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting to go along with seven rebounds.
Claire Kruszka added 13 points, four rebounds and four assists in the win while Gardner posted a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes.
Anna Milham contributed 10 points and five rebounds while
Miranda Lynch and Robbins scored eight points apiece.
The Cardinals owned a significant advantage on the glass and out-rebounded Alfred, 57-28, including 24 offensive boards. Fisher was credited with 17 assists on 38 field goals and came away with 14 steals overall.
