Albany, NY—The Sage Colleges' women's basketball team came back from a 10 point deficit with 6:07 left to pull out a 66-60 Empire 8 victory over Elmira College Saturday afternoon. Sage is now 6-5 and 1-1 in the Empire 8 while Elmira is 4-6 overall and 0-2 in the league.

 

Senior guard Emily Parslow (Fonda, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) led the Gators with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists. She was also six for six at the line, including four for four in the final 1:22 of the contest. Parslow has 1,124 career points, ranking fourth all-time at Sage. Rookie forward Emily Pike (Ticonderoga, NY/Ticonderoga) had a game high 10 rebounds with nine points and freshman guard Sammy Pasinella (Troy, NY/Mechanicville) scored a career high 10 points with three assists. Sage shot 34% in the game.

 

Elmira was led by Lindsay Heaton, who scored a game best 20 points with four assists and eight rebounds. Rachel Vespucci also had a team high eight boards and Alyssa Walters scored eight with seven boards. Elmira shot 31%.

 

The defenses came out strong and produced a low scoring first quarter. Sage led 9-3 with 4:46 after a free throw by Pike, and Pritchard scored six of those nine points. But was kept scoreless the rest of the quarter as the Soaring Eagles scored the next nine points of the quarter to take a 12-9 lead after the first 10 minutes. Heaton scored six of those points during that 9-0 run.

 

The see-saw second quarter featured a four point lead by Elmira at 15-11 with 8:23 left, but a Parslow layup made it 24-21 for Sage with 3:58 left in the quarter. Yaw made a jumper with 13 seconds left in the half to give the Soaring Eagles a 28-27 lead into halftime.

 

Elmira kept Sage scoreless in the third period until senior guard Macie Holmes (Amsterdam, NY/Mekeel Christian Academy) made a free throw with 2:49 left in the period. Elmira led at that point, 41-28. The Soaring Eagles entered the fourth period leading 45-36. Holmes had five assists, giving her 207 career to move into 10th all-time in Sage annals.

 

In the fourth, a Bridget Yaw layup gave the guests a 10 point lead at 52-42 with 6:07 to play in the period. But the Gators went on a 17-6 run in the next 5:04 to take a 59-58 lead, the Gators first lead of the second half. Sage made seven free throws in the final 1:22 to seal the comeback victory.

 

The Gators will return to action on January 11 travelling to St. John Fisher College for a 5:30 p.m. road Empire 8 match-up, while Elmira College is back in action on January 7 at Keuka College for a 7 p.m. non-conference contest.