Courtesy of Empire8.com
PITTSFORD, NY – The No.1 seed St. John Fisher University women’s basketball team (25-2) repeated as Empire Champions, knocking off No. 2 seed Nazareth College (19-8), 78-55 on Saturday afternoon. A strong second quarter helped the Cardinals secure a 78-55 victory over the Golden Flyers. With this victory, Fisher secures the Empire 8 automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
The Cardinals repeated as Empire 8 Champions and won their seventh league title in program history. The Cardinals will await their next opponent as the NCAA has their selection show on Monday, Feb. 27 at 2:30 p.m.
Senior Kaitlyn Walker was named the 2023 Empire 8 Women’s Basketball Championship Tournament Most Valuable Player, after scoring 18 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Junior Claire Kruszka, scored 20 points, dished out nine assists, and had six rebounds. Sophomore Sydney Tomasso had a stellar game, scoring 18 points, eight rebounds, and shooting 7-for-9. First-year standout Presleigh Brunner scored 12 points, collected seven rebounds, and had two assists.
First-year standout Brielle Reidinger, the 2023 Empire 8 Co-Rookie of the Year, finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, while Jadyn Abrams added 12 points.
The first quarter started out fast, with Kaitlyn Walker scoring a layup, 13 seconds in. Less than a minute later, Sidney Tomasso scored a jumper. Over the next couple of minutes, both Walker and Katie Moravec scored free-throws. Nazareth then scored five points, with Emilia Johnson scoring a jumper, the Cardinals leading 10-7. Shortly after, Claire Kruszka scored a layup, with the quarter ending with Presleigh Brunner scoring a jumper, Fisher leading 14-12. The second quarter started out just as fast as the first did, with Johnson scoring a layup. Shortly after, Walker scored two layups of her own. The two teams went back and forth, highlighted by Kruszka’s good three-pointer. Shortly after, Brunner scored a jumper, with the half ending and the Cardinal’s leading 35-23.
The Cardinal’s first points of the second half came from a free-throw made by Walker. Shortly after, Kruszka made a three-pointer. Both teams then scored, followed by Ka. Moravec making a good jumper, the score 43-32. The quarter ended with Kruszka making two good free-throws, making the score 55-36. The final quarter began with Brunner making a layup. Nazareth responded with four points, followed by a seven-point Fisher run started by Kruszka’s two free-throws. The teams spent the next couple minutes going back and forth, but the Cardinals walked away winning 78-55.
2022-23 Empire 8 Women’s Basketball Championship Schedule
Tuesday, February 21 – First Round (at Higher Seed)
No. 3 Russell Sage defeated No. 6 Alfred, 71-46 – BOX SCORE
No. 5 Elmira defeated No. 4 Houghton, 65-58 – BOX SCORE
Friday, February 24 – Semifinals (at St. John Fisher)
No. 1 St. John Fisher defeated No. 5 Elmira, 67-41 – BOX SCORE
No. 2 Nazareth defeated No. 3 Russell Sage, 75-71 – BOX SCORE
Saturday, February 25 – Championship Final (at St. John Fisher)
No. 1 St. John Fisher defeated No. 2 Nazareth, 78-55 – BOX SCORE
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