ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Women's basketball notched another conference win today against Hartwick 81-36. With the conclusion of Saturday's games, Nazareth has locked in the fourth seed for playoffs and will host round one of playoffs against the five seed.
With the win, Nazareth now has an overall record of 18-6, and a conference record of 12-3, while Hartwick drops to 6-17 overall and 4-11 in the Empire 8.
The first quarter started out strong for the Golden Flyers, coming out of the gate with a 20-point quarter while only allowing Hartwick to score 10. The Golden Flyers' 20 points came from 44.44 percent from the field on 8-18, 50 percent from the three on 2-4, and 100 percent from the line on 2-2.
The second quarter was Nazareth's strongest, shooting 52.94 percent from the field and 50 percent from the arc, while only giving up nine points to the Hawks. With three minutes and 30 seconds left in the half, Nazareth went up by 30 at 43-13. However, the Hawks went on a run at the end of the half to make the halftime score 43-19 in favor of the Golden Flyers.
Molly Benetti had Nazareth's first six points of the game, while also leading the team in points at the half with 13. Also scoring in the first half was
Payton Littlefield with 12,
Madalyn Kelly with eight,
Sarina McDowell with six, and
Katie MacLachlan and
Morgan Caraballo each with two.
In the third quarter, Nazareth continued to make plays on both ends of the floor, allowing the Golden Flyers to expand the lead to 37 with three minutes left in the third quarter. Heading into the final 10 minutes of play, the Golden Flyers led 60-27.
In the final quarter Nazareth shot 50 percent from the field, the arc, and the line. The Golden Flyers' stellar defense again held the Hawks to under double digits in the fourth quarter, allowing Nazareth to take the win at a final score of 81-36.
Benetti led the team in points with 19, while also grabbing eight rebounds and swatting two blocks. MacLachlan led the team in boards with 11, while also putting up seven points and dishing out six assists. Kelly and Littlefield each finished the game with 12 points, while McDowell added 10 points, seven rebounds, and three assists. Caraballo put up nine total points for the Golden Flyers while also adding six of both rebounds and assists.
Kiara Anglin grabbed nine boards for Nazareth, while teammate
Tessa Schuey had six points.
Brayden Schultz had two points and two rebounds, while
Chianna Williams also grabbed two boards. Senior
Madilann Johnson had four points, one rebound, and one assist on her senior day.
The Golden Flyers will be back at home on February 18th for a 5:30 p.m. Battle of the Beaks showdown against crosstown rival St. John Fisher.
