Box Score Box | Updated stats
ELMIRA, N.Y. -- Visiting Nazareth trailed 54-44 with roughly four minutes remaining in regulation before outscoring Elmira 7-0 in a span of 1:36 to close its deficit to within three points. The Soaring Eagles held off the Golden Flyers with three points in the final 15 seconds to claim the 58-53 victory in a women's Empire 8 basketball game. The Golden Flyers' defense held Elmira to without a field goal for 12:20 during the second half. Maria Thannhauser's layup ended the drought with 15 seconds to play in the contest. Elmira converted 18 of 22 (82 percent) of its second-half free throws to maintain its lead.

Following the loss, Nazareth slips to 8-15 overall and 2-10 in Empire 8 games. With the victory, the Soaring Eagles improve to 16-7 overall and 7-5 in conference contests.

In the second half, Nazareth's defense forced seven turnovers and held Elmira to seven field goals, including only one in the final 12:34. The Golden Flyers' 7-0 scoring run toward the end of regulation was started by a three-point bucket by sophomore Veronica Peck. Junior Melissa Reeves connected on a pair of layups on the Golden Flyers' next two possessions to trim Nazareth's deficit to 54-51 with 2:28 remaining in regulation. With 40 seconds to play, sophomore Lindsey Kelly converted a layup to bring  the Golden Flyers to within two points, 55-53. Thannhauser's layup with 15 seconds remaining not only ended Elmira's field goal drought, but it also reclaimed a two-possession lead for the Soaring Eagles.

After the teams battled to a 25-25 tie at halftime, Elmira scored the first two baskets of the second stanza to take the lead, which it held throughout the second half despite Nazareth's scoring run.

Nazareth held its largest lead of the game, 17-10, with 7:13 to play in the opening period following a three-pointer by junior Hannah Runyon, which capped a 12-1 scoring run. Peck had a shot from outside the arc to start the run, which was followed by a basket by junior Maria Allocco, senior Megan Morrison, and Kelly.

The Golden Flyers' offense finished 20-54 (37 percent) on their field goals and kept Elmira to 16-49 (32 percent). The Soaring Eagles, however, converted 24-33 (73 percent) shots from the charity stripe over the course of the game while Nazareth had one-third of the total chances and finished 6-11 (55 percent) on its free throws. Zoltowski was 11-12 (92 percent) on her free throw chances to lead Elmira.

Reeves and sophomore Julia Brew each tallied 13 points to lead the Golden Flyers. Brew connected on 4-7 (57 percent) three-point shots. In her first year at Nazareth, Brew now has 67 three-point baskets, which stands only two shy of Katie Kollar's single-season record of 69 threes set two years ago. Kelly also finished with nine points, while Peck recorded six, Runyon had five, and Allocco had four. Reeves collected a team-high eight rebounds to help Nazareth to a 39-33 advantage in total rebounds.

With her proficiency at the free throw line, Zoltowski amassed a game-high 18 points. Megan Loya and Thannhauser added 12 points and 10 points, respectively. Loya led the Soaring Eagles with eight rebounds.

The Golden Flyers have two regular season games remaining, including their final home game on Tuesday against conference-rival Alfred at 8 p.m. It will be the last home game for Morrison and classmate Anna Wicks. Nazareth closes the season on Saturday with a 4 p.m. conference game at Utica.