ELMIRA, NY - The Alfred women's basketball team fell on the Road to Elmira College, 76-71 Tuesday evening at the Speidel Gymnasium.
 
The Saxons (2-12,0-6 Empire 8) were led by first-year guard Amanda Figueroa (Cypress, TX/Rosehill Christian) as she dropped 27 points and grabbed a team seven rebounds. Junior guard Katlyn Boland (A. Phillips Randolph) and first-year guard Lyndsey McCoy (Middleburgh, NY/Middleburgh Central) who chipped in 11 points apiece. Boland also finished with six boards and seven assists.
 
Boland got the scoring going for the Saxons as she was able to drive the lane for the layup for an early 2-0 lead. The Soaring Eagles jumped out to a 13-4 lead before sophomore forward Mandy Skeet (Corfu, NY/Pembroke) knocked down her jumper to cut into Elmira's lead. Rachel Vespucci answered with a layup at the other end for Elmira before McCoy drained a three-pointer to make it 15-9 with 2:34 left in the first. The Soaring Eagles closed out the quarter on a 6-2 run.
 
Elmira extended their lead to 10 as Bridget Yaw hit a three to make it 28-18 at the 5:08 mark in the second quarter. Sophomore forward Sam Pierre-Louis (Wheatley Heights, NY/Half Hallow Hills West) was able to cut the deficit to seven with a jumper to make it 30-23. That started a 7-0 run with first-year guard Chloe Kottwitz (Bolivar, NY/Bolivar-Richburg) knocking down a three-pointer to make it 30-28 with just over a minute left before halftime.
 
"We battled for forty minutes tonight and I was very proud of the effort we showed for the entire game," said Head Coach Monique McLean. "We were a couple of rebounds and a couple of stops away from a win. We'll get better and be back at it this weekend.
 
The Saxons found themselves down 59-48 early in the forth quarter before they found some offense, going on a 9-1 run that was fueled by an and-one from sophomore guard Jamie Wilcox (Forestville, NY/Pine Valley) and McCoy hitting all four of her free throw opportunities. Elmira pushed their lead back to seven off a layup from Sally Hogan to make it 64-57 with 2:57 to go in regulation. Figueroa then caught fire, scoring the team next six points including an and-one and a three to make it 66-63. Lindsey Heaton was able to put the game away for Elmira as she converted three of her last four free throw attempts.
 
Elmira was led offensively by Danielle Clearly and Vespucci with 12 points. Lauren Franklin led the team in rebounds with 13 rebounds with Cleary adding nine, respectively.
 
Alfred was able to convert defense into offense, outscoring Elmira in points off turnover, 23-9. Elmira held the slight advantage in points in the paint, 38-26.
 
The Saxons head home to take on The Sage Colleges this Friday, January 19 at 8 PM.