Albany, NY – The Sage Colleges' women's basketball team hosted the Soaring Eagles of Elmira College in a non-conference game on Monday night in the Kahl Gym. Elmira racked up a 69-57 victory to improve to 3-2 overall, while the loss puts Sage at 3-3.
For Elmira, senior guard Jessica Zoltowski (Erie, PA/Harbor Creek) led all players with her 28 points, moving her closer to the No. 2 spot at Elmira on the all-time scoring list with 1,186 points.
Elmira took a 31-24 lead at the break as they hit 47.8% of the team's shots (11-23), while making four of six three-pointers. Zoltowski racked up 13 first half points, while senior guard Liz Forrest (North Walpole, NH/Fall Mountain) tallied nine points with five rebounds.
By game's end, Forrest added 11 points and nine rebounds, while senior guard MariaThannhauser (Newfield, NY/Newfield) added 13 points after making 10 of 14 free throws in the game.
The Gators would open on a 12-8 run to pull within three points, down 39-36 with 15:15 left to play. Down the stretch, the Gators pulled within one point, down 49-48 at 5:59 as junior center Amie Jefferson (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) sunk two key free throws and followed with a block on the other end of the court. Elmira would then go on a run making six straight free throws and took a 56-48 lead with 4:15 left to play.
Sophomore forward Sara Tironi (Cambridge, NY/Cambridge Central) connected for 12 points for the Gators, while junior Carlee Hirt (Beacon, NY/John Jay) added 14 points to lead the Gators. Rookie Krystyn Knockwood (Troy, NY/Troy) added 10 points and seven rebounds for the Gators.
Sage returns to action on December 5 travelling to Hartwick College for a 6 p.m. non-conference game. Elmira College hosts Clarkson University on December 7 at 3 p.m. in the next contest for the squad.
