PITTSFORD, NY – Graduate student Jadyn Abrams hit three consecutive shots in the third quarter for the Nazareth Women's Basketball team that trimmed the lead down to six points but St. John Fisher used a 12-2 to end the third period to retain the lead and pushed ahead for an 84-66 win Tuesday night in an Empire 8 matchup on Bobby Wanzer court.

Abrams led Nazareth (11-5 overall, 7-2 E8) with 25 points but St. John Fisher (14-2, 9-0 E8) used a large free throws advantage in the game and second half to maintain the lead and pull away. The Cardinals were 17-of-20 from the line for the game and 12-of-14 in the second half. Nazareth, on the other hand, went to the line just 10 times in the game and connected on seven shots but were limited to 0-for-2 from the line in the second half.

The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead at 23-9 after one quarter but Nazareth closed the gap with 26 points in the quarter and the teams went into the halftime break with the Cardinals holding a 44-37 lead.

In the third quarter, Abrams hit a 3-pointer followed by a short jumper and another 3-pointer as the Golden Flyers closed to within five points at 49-44. The teams traded baskets over the next three minutes including another Abrams jumper before the pivotal Cardinal run to end the quarter.

Abrams led all scorers with her 25 points while freshmen Katie MacLachlan and Brielle Reidinger each scored 10 points for Nazareth. Graduate student Kim Davis added eight points, 10 rebounds and six assists and classmate Caley Cornwell added nine points.

Nazareth continues its Empire 8 road swing with games at Alfred and Elmira over the weekend and will also play at Utica next Tuesday before returning home Feb. 3 to host Houghton.