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HOUGHTON, N.Y. -- Visiting Nazareth overcame a five-point halftime deficit Saturday by outscoring Houghton 34-24 in the second half to take a 55-50 women's basketball victory over the Highlanders in Empire 8 Conference action.

Combined with Friday's home-court victory over Hartwick, the Golden Flyers were able to complete a sweep on opening weekend of E8 Conference games. The Golden Flyers (2-0, E8, 7-4 overall) are home next weekend for conferance games against Stevens and Sage. Houghton, which lost at St. John Fisher Friday, is 7-4 overall and 0-2 in conference games.

Trailing 26-21 following a lackluster first half, Nazareth watched the deficit increase to seven points after Houghton scored the first basket of the third quarter. The Golden Flyers then embarked on a 16-2 scoring spree that featured seven points by junior Rachel Benedict to take a seven-point lead, 37-30, with 2:24 left in the third. Freshman Jadyn Abrams also nailed a three-pointer during the scoring run and junior Lizzie Straub and sophomore Haley Schoelerman also scored.

Houghton rallied in the fourth quarter and regained the lead, 46-43, when Brittany Lenart hit a three-pointer with 5:47 left. Benedict completed an old-fashioned three-point play on the ensuing possession to tie the score again. The score was still tied at 49-49 with 3:15 left before Abrams completed a three-point play that enabled Nazareth to take the lead for good. Sophomore Isabella Gjonaj added a basket and Elizabeth White made a free throw to keep Nazareth in front.

Benedict finished with a game-high 15 points (including 13 in the second half) to go with eight rebounds and two steals. Straub added 13 and Abrams nine. Gjonaj had eight points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Nazareth shot 20-for-50 (40%) from the field, but that included an 8-for-13 (61.5%) stretch in the third quarter.