PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher University women's basketball team smothered Houghton's offense in a 72-55 victory in the Empire 8 Tournament Quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon at the Manning and Napier Varsity Gym.
The No. 3-seeded Cardinals improved to 19-7 overall and will face No. 2-seeded SUNY Geneseo on Wednesday at the Carl Schrader Gymnasium in the conference semifinals. Houghton, the No. 6 seed in the tournament, ended its season 17-9 overall.
Fisher held Houghton to 35.5% overall shooting (22 of 62) and 11.1% from three (2 of 18). The Cardinals limited the Highlanders to just 26.3% shooting as they ran away with the game in the third quarter.
How It Happened
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Junior guard Presleigh Brunner scored seven points while shooting 3 of 4 overall (1 of 1 from three) as part of the Cardinals' strong first quarter, which they ended with a nine-point lead.
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The Cardinals pushed their lead to double digits in the second and maintained a seven- to 10-point lead the rest of the quarter. They led by nine, 35-26, at the break.
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Kayla Camacho and Crysta Lacrosse made layups early in the third quarter to cut Houghton's deficit to five (35-30) before the Cardinals used a 15-2 run to break the game open. Senior guards Katie Moravec (seven points) and Sidney Tomasso (six points) led the Cardinals' offensive attack in that quarter.
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The Cardinals pushed their lead to a game-high 23 points in the fourth. Tomasso scored 12 more points in that quarter to give her 18 for the second half.
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The Cardinals, who had issues with turnovers in losses to Russell Sage and Nazareth to end the regular season, played a much cleaner game on Saturday, finishing with just seven giveaways.
Game Notes
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After being held to just five points in the first half, Tomasso scored 18 in the second half to finish with 23. She also pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds as part of her 12th double-double of the season and 16th of her collegiate career.
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Tomasso finished 10 of 12 from the free-throw line and 6 of 17 from the floor (1 of 5 from three).
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Tomaso has made 10 or more free throws in three games this season.
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Tomasso also stuffed the stat sheet with three steals and three assists.
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Moravec scored 21 points while shooting 7 of 12 from the floor (2 of 4 from three) and 5 of 5 from the foul line. She had eight rebounds and two assists.
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Brunner finished with 15 points on 4 of 10 shooting (1 of 3 from three). She made a career-high six free throws (six attempts).
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Sophomore forward Danielle Seamon contributed six points and three rebounds off the bench. Senior guard Kelly Moravec had five points off the bench.
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The Cardinals scored 16 points off 11 Houghton turnovers.
Up Next
The Cardinals face No. 2-seeded Geneseo on Wednesday. A game time will be announced later.
