ELMIRA, N.Y. – Junior Alexa Gibson scored a career-high 18 points and senior guard Hannah Ferguson had a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds as the St. John Fisher women's basketball team snuck past Elmira, 68-60, on Friday night. 

The Cardinals (11-12, 8-6 Empire 8) made a season-high 21 free throws on 26 attempts, with 10 of those coming in the fourth quarter as they closed out the victory. Elmira (11-12, 6-8 Empire 8) suffered its 23rd consecutive loss to the Cardinals. 

Gibson, who played 16 minutes off the bench, didn't miss a shot all game on her way to those 18 points, as she finished an unblemished 7-of-7 from the field and 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. She scored 10 points in the second half, including eight in the fourth quarter. 

Freshman guard Natalie Mai also had a starring role for the Cardinals off the bench, scoring 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting over 29 minutes of action. She accounted for all three of the Cardinals' made 3-pointers in the contest. 

Ferguson's double-double marked her team-leading third of the season. She scored eight of her 12 points in the second half and finished one rebound shy of matching her career high. 

Emma Ryan (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Amarionah Dixon (15 points, 10 rebounds) each posted double-doubles for the Soaring Eagles. Lauren Miller (16 points) knocked down four of the team's six 3-pointers. 

How It Happened 

The Cardinals appeared to be in trouble early, as they were outscored by the Soaring Eagles 15-3 over the first seven-plus minutes. But, behind three points apiece from Mai, senior guard Julia Perales and freshman forward Payton O'Dell, they went on an 11-1 run to pull within two, 16-14, before the first quarter ended. 

Gibson scored eight points while shooting 4-of-4 from the field in a back-and-forth second quarter. The Cardinals went into halftime ahead by four, 31-27, after she made layups on consecutive possessions inside the final 1:30 of the frame.

The momentum Gibson sparked at the end of the first half carried into the third quarter, as the Cardinals scored the first six points to push their lead to double digits, 37-27. Elmira trimmed its deficit to five twice in the middle of the quarter, but the Cardinals went on another run to gain their largest lead of the night, 46-34, before it ended. Mai was the catalyst for St. John Fisher in the frame, scoring seven points on 3-of-4 shooting, including 1-of-2 from distance. Senior guard Presleigh Brunner, who finished the game with nine points, had four. 

The Soaring Eagles worked to chip away at their deficit in the fourth quarter and tied the score at 50 with just over four minutes to play. 

Gibson and Ferguson regained the lead for the Cardinals with layups on back-to-back possessions. After Elmira came within two on a pair of free throws with 2:10 left, Gibson made another layup to push Fisher's lead back to four, 56-52. 

Ryan made a pair of free throws to pull Elmira within one, 57-56, with 1:25 left, but Ferguson responded on the other end with another clutch layup in the paint to make it 59-56 with about a minute to play. Elmira didn't score again until there were 14 seconds left, and the Cardinals made nine of their final 10 shots from the foul line to nail down the victory. 

Game Notes

• Brunner struggled from the field (2-of-12) but made 5-of-6 shots from the foul line, including 3-of-4 in the fourth quarter. 

• Gibson and Mai accounted for 33 of the Cardinals' 36 bench points. By contrast, Elmira got just one point from its bench. 

Up Next

The Cardinals conclude their final E8 regular-season weekend with a road matchup against Keuka at 2 p.m. on Saturday.