ALFRED, NY – Sports are back at Alfred.
 
Hot second-half shooting by Houghton (2-0) was enough, as they pulled away from the Alfred University women's basketball team (0-1) by a 70-50 score at the Terry S. Galanis Family Arena Thursday night.
 
We'll get back to the game in a bit. The true victory was the ball being tipped at approximately 7:31 p.m., kicking off the first home contest for any team on AU's campus in 365 days. It's been a rollercoaster of a year since that last contest – with starts and pauses, learning how to compete and practice in a different way, navigating constantly changing COVID-19 protocols, adjusting to changing schedules, and playing without the loyal Saxon Nation faithful in the stands.
 
After 92 real minutes of sneakers hitting the hardwood, coaches yelling out instructions, and players celebrating shots, it made for a brief reprieve from all of the uncertainty outside of those gym walls. After the final buzzer sounded and both teams trotted out to mid-court for a post game prayer – safely, of course – gratitude was the dominant emotion.
 
"We're very thankful to be back, thanks to our campus administration for supporting us and helping to get us through," Head Coach Mike Moskowitz said. "We're in no way past the pandemic, but we feel like we got it under control on our campus by doing the right things."
 
Junior guard Allison O'Toole (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley) led the Saxons with 15 points on an accurate 7-for-10 shooting from the field, adding three rebounds. First-year guard Grace Rittenhouse (Dansville, NY/Dansville) and senior guard Lyndsey McCoy (Middleburgh, NY/Middleburgh Central) each chipped in eight points. McCoy, sophomore Rebecca Jewett (Nyack, NY/Nyack), and first-year guard Karly Welty (Portville, NY/Portville Central) each tallied four assists. The Saxons shot 36.7 percent (22-of-60) from the field and got 25 points from the bench unit in the loss.
 
Junior center Emie Taylor led the Highlanders with a 21-point, 20-rebound double-double, adding four blocked shots. Caitlyn Cybart chipped in 17 points of her own, as the Highlanders shot 42.4 percent from the field (28-of-66) and knocked down 6-of-7 shots from beyond the arc.
 
"Houghton is tough and very well coached," said Moskowitz. "That zone is difficult, and they don't let you get a lot of threes out of it." They got Taylor to rebound everything, contest shots and then, obviously on the offensive end, she's a handful."
 
Houghton jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, but the Saxons slowly chipped away at the deficit, eventually taking a 17-13 lead after a Jewett jumper in the second quarter. Houghton rallied, taking a 24-19 lead into the break.
 
Rittenhouse started the second half with a jumper for Alfred, bringing the deficit to three, at 24-21. It was as close as the Saxons would get, as a 14-7 Houghton run at the end of the quarter stretched the lead to double digits, at 45-34. The Highlanders then put the game away in the fourth, hitting 11-of-15 shots (68.8 percent) from the field to push the margin to 20.
 
"I thought our players competed well," Moskowitz said. "We never really had a dip that got us down emotionally or gave defeated looks to each other. We had some good individual performances and some good looks at the rim. For the first time being on the court in over a year, and for some people longer than that, I am very proud of their effort and we'll try to get better before Sunday's game."
 
The Saxons will hit the road for the first time in 2021, beginning Empire 8 play with the long trek to Sage College in Albany on Sunday. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m.