ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University women's basketball team hosted Houghton College on Tuesday night.
 
The Saxons (5-12, 1-6 Empire 8) had trouble getting things going early and ended up losing this one 70-52 to the Highlanders.
 
Points were hard to come by for AU in the opening quarter as Houghton jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first five minutes of play.
 
Alfred finally got on the board at the 3:26 mark of the first on a three pointer from Ana Ion (Bucharest, Romania / Episcopal of Jacksonville) but that was all the scoring Alfred could get in the first 10 minutes as the Highlanders led 17-3 going into the second period.
 
The second quarter also began slowly for the Saxons until an 11-4 run to end the half helped AU back into the game and made it a 33-21 game at the break.
 
The Saxons continued to chip away at the deficit throughout the third quarter but still trailed 47-35 headed into the final quarter.
 
Unfortunately for the Saxons, the Highlanders extended their lead in the final quarter and secured the 18 point victory.
 
Ion had another productive night with 19 points, eight rebounds and three steals.
 
Jamie Wilcox (Forestville, NY / Pine Valley) also finished with 19 points and three steals while grabbing five boards.
 
The Saxons will be on the road this Friday in Rochester for a matchup with the Golden Flyers of Nazareth College. That one will tip at 7:30PM.