ROCHESTER, N.Y. --
Jadyn Abrams led all scorers with 20 points for top-seeded Nazareth Tuesday as the host Golden Flyers surged to a 67-31 victory over Keuka in women's basketball.
The victory, on Mike Daley Court in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament semifinals, was the seventh in a row for the Golden Flyers, who stand at 9-2 overall. Nazareth will compete for its first-ever E8 title Thursday at home against St. John Fisher at 7 p.m. Fisher defeated Alfred, 76-62, in Tuesday's other semifinal. Nazareth and Fisher split a pair of regular-season meetings. Fisher won 66-46 on March 1 and Nazareth won 60-57 on March 16.
In Tuesday's game, Nazareth defeated Keuka for the third time this season following a sluggish start for the Golden Flyers. The Wolves were up 9-2 following a three-point basket by Amelia Poole with 6:47 left in the first quarter. Abrams responded with a three-pointer that touched off a 20-0 scoring run that enabled Nazareth to close out the first 10 minutes with a 22-9 advantage. Abrams scored nine points during the scoring spree and
Ryann Stefaniak scored four.
Nazareth then outscored Keuka 19-4 in the second quarter to create a 41-13 halftime lead and was not challenged thereafter. Abrams added seven more points in the second quarter and had 18 of her 20 in the first half.
Nazareth had good scoring balance the rest of the way. Junior
Caley Cornwell contributed 10 points and her featured defensive tenacity that included six steals. Stefaniak and
Kim Davis each scored nine points and
Elizabeth White added eight.