ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University women's basketball team held close to visiting Empire 8 foe, Stevens Institute of Technology on Saturday evening in the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena, but were edged by the Ducks, 69-58.
 
Sophomore Bri Hicks (Burlington, VT/Ithaca) and first-year Chloe Kottwitz (Bolivar, NY/Bolivar-Richburg) both had career-highs on the evening. Hicks recorded her first collegiate double-double and scored a career-best 18 points, going 9-of-17 from the floor. She pulled down 10 rebounds, stole the ball three times and had one block. Kottwitz was second for the Saxons (2-9, 0-3 Empire 8) in scoring with a career-high 16 points, scoring on all five of her free throw attempts while tacking on three 3-pointers and one jumper. She also had a career-high seven rebounds.
 
"Bri [Hicks] and Chloe [Kottwitz] played very well for us, and as a whole, I thought we played with a lot of passion and energy. We played together and fought for the entire 40 minutes," Head Coach Monique McLean said. "Going up against a team like Stevens, it really gave the players the confidence to push forward and get ready for our next conference games."
 
Junior Katlyn Boland (New York, NY/) led Alfred University with six assists while sophomore Jamie Wilcox (Forestville, NY/Pine Valley) followed with four helpers and also rounded out the Saxons' double-digit scorers with 11 points.
 
Stevens got off to a strong start as they scored a game-high 23 points in the first quarter. The Saxons managed 14 points in the first 10 minutes but fought back, defensively, in the second quarter, holding the Ducks to only 14 points but scoring just nine, themselves, making the score 37-23 at halftime. Hicks was the only player to score double-digits in the first half as she tallied 14 with 12 in the first quarter.
 
Alfred University would go on to outscore Stevens in the second half, 35-32 as they topped the Ducks 15-12 in the third quarter and tied, 20-20 in the final 10 minutes of play.
 
Stevens ousted the Saxons in second-chance points (11-2), bench points (25-3) and points in the paint (20-12). Alfred scored more points off of turnovers as the Saxons totaled 19 points while Stevens had 14. The Ducks out-rebounded the Saxons 50-39 while the Saxons stole the ball 11 times compared to the Ducks' five steals.
 
The Saxons will next head up to Rochester to play against Nazareth College on Friday, January 12 at 8 PM and then against St. John Fisher College on Saturday at 4 PM.