PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College women's basketball eclipsed the 100-point plateau for the first time since 2016 as the Cardinals, who are ranked 25th in the latest D3hoops.com poll, downed the Houghton College Highlanders, 104-36, in an Empire 8 pairing inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court. With the win, head coach
Melissa Kuberka's squad pushed its winning streak to four games and moved to 14-1 on the year and 6-1 in the conference standings while the Highlanders fell to 7-7, 1-4, respectively.
Fisher had it going early as the Cardinals drained five of their first nine shots including three from distance to hold a 16-3 cushion with three minutes gone by. As the period wore on, Fisher extended its lead to 20 after closing out the quarter on an 8-0 run fueled by five points from
Miranda Lynch to take a 30-10 edge into the second frame.
Holding a comfortable lead, the Cardinals carried their momentum over and would grow their advantage to as many as 35 points following a 14-0 burst that made it 49-14. With halftime looming, Houghton would connect on a 3-pointer to head into the break facing a 51-17 gap.
Coming out of intermission, Fisher tacked seven points onto its lead before outscoring the Highlanders 30-5 over the final 10 minutes of play to earn the 68-point victory.
In all, 18 different players scored in the win led by
Sidney Tomasso and
Kaitlyn Walker who finished with 18 points each. Lynch provided 11 points off the bench while
Claire Kruszka chipped in with 10 points, four rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists.
Kelly Moravec scored a career-high nine points and added five rebounds while
Anna Milham netted eight points and hauled down a career-best 12 boards over 14 minutes.
The Cardinals were 36-of-84 (.429) in the win and dominated on the glass after holding a 74-27 edge in rebounding including a season-high 31 on the offensive end of the floor.
Defensively, the Cardinals held Houghton to just 22 percent from the floor and were credited with 11 steals as the Highlanders turned the ball over 19 times in all.
The Cardinals will enjoy a rare weekend off before traveling to Ithaca at 7 p.m. on Tuesday to take on the Bombers in a non-conference tilt.
