ROCHESTER, NY – In a battle of two unbeaten squads in league play, the Nazareth women's basketball team came up short on Tuesday against East Avenue rival St. John Fisher, falling 83-72. Sophomore Sarina McDowell led all scorers with 24 points on 9-of-16 from the floor and was just one rebound short of a double-double.
 
Coming into the day, four teams boasted unblemished records in conference play, with Nazareth, St. John Fisher, Geneseo and Brockport all at 8-0. With the loss, Nazareth's eight-game win streak comes to a close as they are now 14-4 and 8-1 in league play. Fisher is now 14-4 and 9-0, respectively. In the other matchup of unbeatens, Brockport stormed back in the fourth quarter to defeat Geneseo 73-72.
 
Despite strong efforts from McDowell and Kiara Anglin, who tied the game at 10 with a layup, the Cardinals pulled ahead, ending the first quarter with a lead of 23-12. 
 
In the second quarter, the Golden Flyers outscored St. John Fisher 19-17, with a significant contribution from Katie Maclachlan, who scored consecutive layups and a 3-pointer in the final minutes. Anglin made two free throws at the 6 minute mark, followed by a layup shortly after, contributing to their scoring efforts. Leah Fusilli also added to the scoreboard with two layups in the paint. Despite trailing by as many as 16 points at the 3:11 mark, Nazareth closed the gap towards the end of the quarter to make it a single-digit game, 40-31.
 
Nazareth had a strong push in the third, cutting the lead to 41-37 nearly two minutes in, but the lead was back up to nine at the end of the quarter.
 
In the fourth, Nazareth trailed by as many as 16 points and cut the lead to eight on two different occasions, but could come no closer.
 
Anglin contributed 15 points, making 5 of her 10 shot attempts and adding three steals. Maclachlan also scored 15 points, hitting 7-of-17 shots, and provided six rebounds and five assists. Fusilli added 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. Molly Benetti, with a total of eight points, made her presence felt defensively with two blocks and five rebounds.