Hawks Fall to the Soaring Eagles' Hot Hands
Box Score HAMBURG, N.Y. - After the unexpected storm and postponed games, the Hilbert College women's basketball team fell to the visiting Soaring Eagles of Elmira, 63-58. In the Hawks first home contest of the season, freshman
Shannon Rogers pulled down 13 boards to go along with nine points and four steals.
Both teams started slow but Hilbert took a 8-7 lead off a jumper by freshman
Samantha Heiler at 16:11. The next four-minute stretch consisted of turnovers, fouls, and missed lay-ups for both teams. The only points the Hawks were able to get on the board during that lull were free throws.
Five straight points by senior point guard
Amber Hay gave the Hawks a 16-12 lead with 9:01 left in the half. Following that scoring spree, the Hawks gained their largest lead of the night (18-12) from a lay-up by first-year
Kelsi Ebert.
Hilbert switched to a zone defense to keep the Soaring Eagles out of the paint but Hilbert was unable to stop the hot Elmira shooters who shot their way to a 25-22 lead. The teams continued to battle back and forth and with 1:29 remaining in the half,
Haley Oakes knocked down a jumper to knot the game up at 29. The Soaring Eagles scored three unanswered points to close the half with a 32-29 advantage.
The second half started off the same way the first half ended, with both teams battling back and forth. Ebert evened the score at 37 and then used a defensive rebound to go coast-to-coast and put the Hawks up by two. Elmira responded, again, with strong shooting from beyond the arc and the free throw line as they began to pull away (50-43).
After being down as many as nine, the Hawks showed that they were not giving up and Heiler brought the hosts within 4 at the 6:29 mark. Despite a strong effort down the stretch, the royal and white were not able to close the gap and fell 63-58.
Hay and Rogers each dished out a game-high three assists, while Heiler was a perfect 4-4 shooting on the night. Ebert pulled down six boards to go along with her nine points.
Karli Pochkar led the Soaring Eagles with 15 points and 2 assists.
Despite the Hawks scoring 34 points in the paint compared to the Soaring Eagles 16 points, the difference maker was at the charity stripe. Hilbert missed 16 free throws and shot a mere 44.8% from the line (13-29). Elmira knocked down 17 of their 28 free throws, along with a stifling 50% (8-16) from long range.
Hilbert returns to action November 30th for the rescheduled contest against Cazenovia College at 2pm in the Hafner Recreation Center.
