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Updated statsONEONTA, N.Y. -- Visiting Nazareth held off Hartwick Saturday in Empire 8 women's basketball action, winning 53-52 to complete the regular season with a 15-10 overall record.
The Golden Flyers will play again next weekend at Ithaca in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament as the fourth seed. The Golden Flyers completed the conference schedule with a 10-6 record. Hartwick finishes at 5-11 in the Empire 8 and 7-18 overall.
Junior
Lindsey Kelly combined 15 points with 10 rebounds to pace the Golden Flyers, who also got 12 points from
Sam Sorge and nine points from
Veronica Peck -- all on three-pointers.
Nazareth was on the verge of breaking the game open after taking a 27-19 halftime lead and extending that to as many as 13 points, 42-29, following a pair of free throws by Kelly midway through the second half.
Hartwick battled back by using a 20-6 scoring run to take the lead, 49-48, following a pair of free throws by Taylor Vonasek with 6:31 to go.
Samantha Peebles sank two free throws with 5:16 left to allow Nazareth to regain the lead, but another free throw by Vonasek enabled Hartwick to tie the score at 50-50 with 4:10 to go.
Melissa Reeves hit a free throw for Nazareth with 3:51 to play and Kelly followed with two more with 2:47 left to give Nazareth a 53-50 lead. A basket by Hartwick's Emily Stone with 1:21 left completed the scoring, but both teams missed chances in the closing minute, notably a missed layup by Vonasek with :02 left that could have given the Hawks the upset win.
Nazareth made 17 of 47 shots, including 7 of 21 from three-point range. The Golden Flyers enjoyed a 42-31 rebounding edge. Vonasek led all scorers with 18 points. Stone added 15 and Courtney Cirillo had 11 for the Hawks, who went 18 for 58 from the floor, including 4 of 12 from three-point range.