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ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Nazareth used a 14-0 scoring run to pull away from visiting Houghton in a women's Empire 8 basketball contest on Tuesday evening. The Golden Flyers held the Highlanders without a point for 7:31 of the second half, leading to the 66-52 victory. Nazareth had 10 different players score for its balanced scoring attack. Lindsey Kelly had a team-high 14 points, and she stands only 12 points away from 1,000 career points.

With the victory, the Golden Flyers improve to 11-7 overall and 6-3 in Empire 8 games. After the loss, the Highlanders drop to 4-15 overall and 1-10 in conference games. Following Tuesday's game, Nazareth stands in fourth in the Empire 8 standings. Stevens and Ithaca hold the top two slots at 10-1 in conference games. St. John Fisher is in third at 7-3, followed by the Golden Flyers at 6-3. Utica stands in fifth at 5-7. The top four teams meet in the conference tournament at the end of February.

After trailing 10-4 in the opening minutes of the contest, the Golden Flyers took a 24-17 lead following a pair of three pointers by junior Sam Sorge. The seven-point lead was Nazareth's largest advantage of the period. The 20-7 run, which lasted roughly seven minutes, was ignited by a shot from outside the arc by junior Kelly Broderick. The Golden Flyers used a balanced scoring attack during the first half, which was also relied on during the scoring run, with six different players recording points. Following Broderick's three, senior Maria Allocco made a layup, and freshman Samantha Peebles connected on a three-pointer. Senior Melissa Reeves scored the next two points with a pair of free throws before Kelly scored on a pair of layups.

Nazareth settled for a 33-33 tie at the end of the first half following a two-point jumper by Houghton's Christel Enriquez, who scored before the buzzer sounded. The bucket capped a 10-4 scoring run for the Highlanders in the final four minutes of the period.

Similar to the first half, Nazareth built a seven-point lead, 44-37, before Houghton tied the game at 48 points apiece. Senior Hannah Runyon broke the tie with a layup in the final seconds of the shot clock. Runyon's driving layup started the Golden Flyers' decisive 14-0 scoring run. Sorge followed Runyon's basket with a layup in transition, then junior Veronica Peck and Kelly stretched the Golden Flyers' lead to nine points with a three-pointer and layup on another set of consecutive Nazareth possessions. Kelly's bucket gave the Golden Flyers the 57-48 lead with just over five minutes remaining in regulation. A couple of minutes later, Peck's second three-pointer of the game provided Nazareth its first double-digit lead.

In addition to the points from Kelly, Peck and Sorge each finished with 10 points. Allocco and Peebles added eight points and seven points, respectively. Nazareth connected on over 47 percent (7-15) of its three-point attempts, including 3-5 (60 percent) in the second half. Kelly collected eight rebounds to lead the team. Houghton finished with a 40-32 advantage in total rebounds.

Hannah Fink amassed a game-high 19 points for the Highlanders. Enriquez finished with the game's lone double-double, recording 13 points and 13 rebounds.

The Golden Flyers seek their fourth victory in five games when they travel to Alfred for another Empire 8 contest on February 6th.