ALFRED, NY – Hartwick fell behind 8-2 in the first three and half minutes but rallied to outscore the host Alfred Saxons 33-10 the rest of the half in a 64-48 victory Friday night at the McLane Center. With the victory, the Hawks snap a six-game slide and improve to 5-13 overall and 3-6 in the Empire 8 Conference.
           
Taylor Vonasek (Willington, CT/E.O. Smith) led all scorers for the Hawks with 19 points. Kelsey Brown (Barrington, NH/Tilton School) contributed 14 points and Jacqui Foreman (Tolland, CT/Tolland) added seven points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
           
Alfred received 16 points and nine boards from Amanda Off. Harley Cleary was also in double figures with 10 points.
           
After AU jumped out to a 10-4 advantage, a 9-2 Hawks' run handed them a 13-12 lead following an Emily Stone (Granby, CT/Granby) bucket with 11:11 left in the half. A Maddi Flint three-pointer put the Saxons back in front at 10:10, but the Hawks clamped down on defense, not allowing their opponents a point over the next seven minutes of action.
           
The Hawks defense forced Alfred to miss their next nine shots from the floor while scoring the next 16 points to grab a 29-15 lead. Five different players figured in the scoring during the 'Wick run led by Vonasek's four points and the Hawks hit the locker room up 17 points, 35-18.
           
An 11-4 run to start the second half trimmed the gap to 10 points for the Saxons, 39-29, but a 12-4 spurt for the Hawks built the margin back up to 18 points with under 10 minutes to go. Hartwick kept at least a 16-point advantage for the rest of the game to secure the victory.
           
Vonasek made eight of her 14 shots on the night for the Hawks. Brown connected on three shots from beyond the three-point arc.
           
Stone finished the contest with eight points and a team-high five assists with Courtney Cirillo (Johnstown, NY/Johnstown) securing seven points and six rebounds. Christina Graziadei (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany) added six points and seven boards.
           
Hartwick made 41.7% (25-for-60) in the game. The Hawks also held a 41-32 edge on the glass. They held the Saxons to 36% (18-for-50) shooting from the floor, including just 25.9% (7-for-27) in the first half alone.
           
Hartwick looks to make it two in a row tomorrow as it visits Houghton College at 2 p.m.