ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The nationally-ranked St. John Fisher College women's basketball team moved its magic number to one on Tuesday as the Cardinals coasted to a 64-42 win over Nazareth College in an Empire 8 pairing inside Kidera Gymnasium.  With the win, Fisher, which is ranked 23rd in the latest D3hoops.com poll, improved to 20-2 on the year and 12-1 in the league standings.  Nazareth closed out the day at 13-8 overall and 8-4 against Empire 8 opponents.

It was all Fisher from the opening whistle as the Cardinals' defense held Nazareth scoreless from the field and smothered the Golden Flyers over the first 10 minutes of play to hold a 12-1 edge heading into the second frame.

The lead would grow to as many as 19 points in the second after Leah Koonmen found Sidney Tomasso on the wing for a 3-pointer before the home team scored the final bucket of the half to make it 34-18 at the break.

Holding a 16-point cushion to begin the second half, Fisher saw its lead slide to 13 with two minutes gone by before a 3-pointer from Claire Kruszka sparked a quick 5-0 burst to push the advantage back to 18 with 6:24 left in the period.

With time ticking away, Nazareth looked to make its move as the Golden Flyers closed out the stanza with seven unanswered points to cut the gap to 11 with the fourth quarter looming.

Holding all the cards, Fisher quickly regained control of the game and used a 17-3 run over a span of nearly seven minutes to forge ahead, 64-39.  With the game well out of reach, Nazareth worked its offense and buried a shot from downtown, but the damage had been done as the final horn sounded on a 22-point win for the Cardinals.

Kaitlyn Walker, who was named the Empire 8 Player of the Week on Monday, led the way for head coach Melissa Kuberka's squad with 14 points and seven rebounds while Koonmen finished with 11 points, five boards and three assists.  Miranda Lynch added 10 points in the win while Kruszka chipped in with nine points, six rebounds and three assists.  Tomasso netted eight points and Lauren Nawojski scored six points off the bench.

The Cardinals, who have now posted 20 or more wins three times in the last five years, will look to potentially lock up the Empire 8 Regular Season Championship at 5:30 p.m. on Friday when they lock horns with Keuka College inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium on Bobby Wanzer Court.