Brittany Wilson

Women's Basketball

Nazareth downs Hartwick, 65-54

Golden Flyers play at Stevens Sunday

Box | Updated stats
ONEONTA, N.Y. -- Senior Rachel Pirozzolo tallied a team-high 14 points Saturday to lead the visiting Golden Flyers to a 65-54 victory over Hartwick in an Empire 8 women's basketball game. Sophomore Brittany Wilson and senior Kelly Dunne added 12 points and 10 points, respectively.

With the victory, the Golden Flyers improve to 7-2 overall and 2-1 in conference games. The Hawks fall to 3-7 overall and 1-2 in the conference.

Wilson scored the first points of the game with a layup 37 seconds into the game, and Nazareth surged to a 7-0 lead with Wilson's second layup a minute later. Between Wilson's baskets, Pirozzolo connected on three free throw attempts to increase the Golden Flyers' early advantage.

After the Hawks rallied to tie the score, 11-11, with 10:27 left in the first half, Nazareth went on a 14-4 scoring run to take a 10-point advantage. Wilson capped the run with a three-point basket with just under four minutes in the half. Sophomore Katie Kollar, senior Kylie Bartlett and Dunne each had a basket for the Golden Flyers. Junior Hillary Simon's basket extended Nazareth's lead to 12 points, but the Hawks scored the final four points of the period to cut their deficit to 29-21 at halftime.

Early in the second half, Hartwick's Jalicia Connell cut the Golden Flyers' lead to three points twice as she connected on three of four free throw opportunities. After Connell's second set of free throws, Dunne connected on her three-point shot to rebuild the Golden Flyers' lead to six points.

With stingy defense and timely shots, Nazareth stretched its lead to 11 points with 12:15 to play following a jumper by sophomore Brittany Patenaude. The Hawks were never able to cut their deficit to fewer than seven points in the final 10 minutes of the game. Free throws by Dunne and Kollar on consecutive possessions extended the Golden Flyers' lead to 14 points with less than a minute to play in regulation.

Nazareth's balanced scoring attack was the key to its victory as 10 players tallied at least two points. In addition to the points from Wilson, Pirozzolo, and Dunne, the Golden Flyers also received eight points from Bartlett and seven points from Kollar. Freshman Jenee Vanderstyne and sophomore Brittany Tallchief each added four points. Dunne also had four assists and Pirozzolo recorded three steals.

Nazareth had a slight 43-40 advantage in total rebounds, and held Hartwick to a field goal percentage of under 29 percent for the game.

Connell had a game-high 19 points for Hawks, followed by Heather Pruchansky and Lauren Ploof with 14 points and 12 points, respectively. Pruchansky also finished with a team-high eight rebounds.

The Golden Flyers travel to Stevens for another Empire 8 conference game Sunday afternoon.
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