DANBURY, Conn. – The Alfred University women's basketball team returned to the hardwood after a lengthy 22-day absence Sunday afternoon, defeating Elms by a 64-51 score in the opening night of the Hat City Tournament, hosted by Western Connecticut at the O'Neill Center.
 
Alfred (4-5) wins its second consecutive game and will face host Western Connecticut in the championship matchup of the Hat City Tournament, held on Monday at 5 p.m. Elms (3-7) drops its second consecutive game and will face SUNY-Delhi in the consolation game at 3 p.m. It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
 
"It's always great to get a win in the first game out of the holiday break," said head coach Mike Moskowitz. "We wrote the story in our heads during shootaround this morning – we knew we needed to find a way to get stops consistently to win."
 
First-year guard Ana Ion (Bucharest, Romania/Episcopal School of Jacksonville) led the team offensively with a career-best 20 points, adding five rebounds. Senior guard Jamie Wilcox (Middleburgh, N.Y./Middleburgh Central) tallied her 1,000th career point, finishing Sunday's effort with a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double. She added four assists and three steals. Junior guard Gillian Flint (Caledonia, N.Y./Caledonia-Mumford) also tallied a double-double, with 10 points and 10 rebounds. She was also a pest defensively, chipping in four steals. Alfred provided solid defense and rebounding off the bench, led by a season-best eight rebounds and a blocked shot from Samantha Pierre-Louis (Wheatley Heights, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills West). The Saxons survived a rough shooting performance in their return, shooting 31.9 percent (22-of-69) from the field.
 
"It's always great to get a win in the first game out of the holiday break," said head coach Mike Moskowitz. "We wrote the story in our heads during shootaround this morning – we knew we needed to find a way to get stops consistently to win. Also, shout out to our second unit - they put together some really nice stretches and sustained some positive energy we had going."
 
Lashaunte White led Elms with 11 points and three rebounds. The Saxons made her work, as she finished 4-for-10 from the field. AU held Elms to 32.3 percent (20-of-62) shooting from the field and forced 18 turnovers. The Saxons have shackled opponents defensively in their wins, as they are averaging just 52.5 points per game.
 
"Elms is a really tough defensive team," added Moskowitz. "Coming back from almost three weeks off we knew our shots might not fall, so we spoke about aggressively offensive rebounding and creating chaos all over the court."
 
The Saxons pulled down 18 offensive rebounds in the effort.
 
It was a near wire-to-wire victory for AU in this one. Elms scored in the opening minute, but Flint answered a couple minutes later with the layup, and then Wilcox nailed a 3-pointer to give the Saxons the lead for good, at 5-2 at the 6:52 mark. The teams would trade baskets for much of the quarter, but the Saxons closed the session out with a three-point play by Ion and a Wilcox jumper, taking a 13-6 lead.
 
The Saxons held off a heady Elms effort in the second quarter, as the Blazers shot 53.8 percent in the period. Elms trailed by just one (24-23) at the 3:50 mark, but AU responded with a 5-0 spurt to take a 29-23 lead. The Blazers closed the half with four unanswered points in the final 1:53, as AU held on to a 29-27 halftime lead.
 
The second half saw the Saxons take control, extending their lead as the third quarter progressed. AU jumped out to its largest lead of the game at 10, on a pair of free throws by junior guard Amanda Figueroa (Cypress, Texas/Rosehill Christian). The Saxons ended the quarter with an Ion jumper and a Flint free throw, leading 50-39 heading into the fourth.
 
Alfred held its double-digit lead for much of the fourth quarter, leading by as many as 14 points (55-41). The AU defense was stout in preventing a late Elms run, holding the Blazers scoreless in the final 6:03 of the game.
 
"I'm looking forward to tomorrow to see how we respond against a totally different style on the back end of a back-to-back," said Moskowitz.
 
This will be the second meeting all-time between Alfred and Western Connecticut State. The teams first met back in the 1987-88 season.