ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The second-seeded St. John Fisher College women's basketball team had its season come to an end on Thursday as the Cardinals fell to top-seeded Nazareth College, 67-62, in the Empire 8 Championship game inside Kidera Gymnasium.  With the loss, Fisher's season concludes at 9-3 while the Golden Flyers, who claimed their first Empire 8 crown in team history, rounded out the season at 10-2.

Claire Kruszka, who was named the Empire 8 Rookie of the Year on Wednesday, finished with a team-high 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting to go along with seven rebounds while Sam Fischer added 16 points and nine rebounds overall.  Miranda Lynch netted 11 points in the loss while Anna Milham scored six off the bench.  Kaitlyn Walker chipped in with four points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

After trailing throughout the opening quarter, Fisher found its footing in the second period and used an 11-0 run highlighted by five points from Lynch to turn an eight-point deficit into a three-point advantage, 29-26.

Leading by one possession, Fisher saw its hold slip away as the Golden Flyers countered with four unanswered points to take a 30-29 lead into the locker room.

Coming out of the break, both teams looked to seize the momentum as the lead changed hands eight times in a nine-minute stretch until the Golden Flyers closed out the quarter with seven of the final 10 points to hold a 52-47 edge with 10 minutes left to play.

As the fourth quarter got underway, Fisher was able to erase a five-point gap as a 3-pointer from Lynch and a bucket inside from Fischer staked the visitors to a 56-55 lead with 7:28 still showing on the clock.

The lead would be short-lived, however, as Nazareth used a 6-1 burst fueled by four points at the free throw line to reclaim the advantage, 61-57.  With time winding down, Fisher would cut the margin down to one, 61-60, courtesy of an old-fashioned three-point play from Kruszka, but the home team came up with four big points down the stretch to hold on for the five-point win.

As a team, Fisher was 26-for-61 from the floor and held a 41-35 advantage on the glass.  The Cardinals forced Nazareth into 13 turnovers and handed out 11 assists overall.