Women’s Hoops Win Streak Snapped In Battle of the Beaks Loss

ROCHESTER, NY – The Nazareth women’s basketball team had two-point halftime lead but saw it slip away in the second half, falling 69-62 to St. John Fisher Saturday night in the first matchup of the Battle of the Beaks.  Molly Benetti led Nazareth with 21 points on 9-for-15 from the floor and eight rebounds

The loss ends Nazareth’s school record of wins at 13. Nazareth is now 14-2 overall and 6-1 in Empire 8 play. Fisher moves to 15-2 and 8-0, respectively.

Nazareth started off the opening 10 minutes 8-for-17 en route to a 20-14 lead. With the score tied at 14 apiece, Nazareth scored the next six points of the quarter. Katie MacLachlan started 3-for-4, good for seven points. She finished the game with nine points and 10 rebounds.

Each squad struggled shooting in the second quarter, with Nazareth going 3-for-12 (25 percent) and Fisher 2-for-14 (14.3). Nazareth took a 28-26 lead into the half. 

Nazareth held the lead for most of the third but a late run from Fisher gave the visitors the lead. A free throw from Benetti made it 42-38 with 3:31 to play. The Cardinals closed the quarter on a 11-1 run to take control. A 3-pointer at the 2:19 mark gave Fisher the lead for good.

The lead got to as many as eight, 55-47, with under seven minutes to play. Nazareth fought to within four at 57-53 on a bucket from Olivia Dobrovosky but that is as close as it would come. Dobrovosky had 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals. 

Despite having a better shooting percentage for the game, 41 percent  to 31.7 percent, the Golden Flyers had four more turnovers which proved to be costly. Fisher had a 46-40 edge in rebounds for the game.

Nazareth returns to action on Tuesday for another crucial conference matchup, hosting Houghton at 5:30 p.m.