Hamilton College's Kelcie Zarle '22 led the way with 19 points and the Continentals took down the Hartwick College Hawks 58-49 in non-conference action at Hamilton's Margaret Bundy Scott Field House on Thursday night.
 
The Continentals evened their record at 3-3 with their fifth straight victory against Hartwick. Hamilton competes in Norwich University's Ed Hockenbury Classic this weekend. The Continentals take on Wellesley College on Friday, Dec. 3 and Colby-Sawyer College on Saturday, Dec. 4.
 
The Hawks, who are members of the Empire 8 Conference, dropped to 4-3. Hartwick owned a 46-38 rebounding advantage but committed 25 turnovers.
 
Zarle was 3 of 4 from 3-point range and grabbed six boards. Emma Sehring '23 chipped in 13 points, pulled down six rebounds and made three steals. Tessa Cole '25 handed out seven assists and is ranked fourth in the NESCAC with 3.5 per game.
 
Giuliana Pritchard was the lone Hawk in double figures in scoring with 15 points. Maggie Kirby added nine points and eight rebounds, and Isabella Astorino blocked four shots.
 
Neither team shot the ball all that well, as Hamilton shot 31.6 percent compared to Hartwick's 27.8 percent from the field. The difference in this game was the 3-point shooting. The Continentals made five out of their 12 attempts and the Hawks only made one out of their eight attempts from deep.
 
Hamilton came up with 11 steals and had a block party, as the Continentals blocked nine shots. Cole, Emily Hall '24 and Katie Hansen '24 led the defensive effort with two blocks each.
 
Hamilton took the lead for good with a 17-3 run that spanned the end of the first and most of the second quarters. Zarle pulled the Continentals within one at 16-15 on a pull-up jumper from above the free-throw line with 1:38 left in the first. Two free throws by Abigael Morin '25 with 53.3 seconds remaining put Hamilton in front and Hall made it 19-16 on a short jumper in the paint with seven seconds to go.
 
Olivia Davis '23 canned a jumper from the left wing and extended the Continentals' lead to 21-16 with 8:20 left in the second quarter. A steal by Cole set up a fast-break layup by Claire Sehring '22 and after two free throws by Pritchard, Cole made a slick bounce pass to Hansen for an easy layup and a 25-18 advantage with 5:21 remaining. Zarle drained a 3-pointer from the left corner with 4:15 left, Kirby got one back for Hartwick with a free throw, and Davis' offensive rebound and putback gave Hamilton a 30-19 cushion with 3:21 to go.
 
The Continentals led 33-26 at the half and 41-37 after three quarters. The Hawks cut their deficit to a single point three times in the fourth quarter, including 47-46 on a free throw by Kirby with 3:52 left, but Hartwick made just one field goal in the last six minutes.
 
Hamilton finally pulled away in the final 40 seconds when the Continentals went 5-for-6 at the free-throw line. Hall was instrumental in helping Hamilton hold off the Hawks with six points in the final three minutes.