PITTSFORD, NY - The Utica College women's basketball team defeated host St. John Fisher College 70-57 in Empire 8 Conference play Friday night. Sophomore forward Jessica Berry netted a game-high 23 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the victory. The Pioneers are now 12-3 in conference play headed into their final game of the regular season at Alfred Saturday.
The Pioneers still have a chance to host the conference tournament if they defeat Alfred Saturday night and Ithaca loses to RIT on Sunday. Otherwise, the Pioneers will likely receive the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament and travel to Ithaca next Friday for the first round of the four team conference tournament. UC defeated Stevens in the finals of the conference tournament last season and earned their second bid to the NCAA Tournament in school history.
The Pioneers are winners of 12 of their last 13 games and they improved to 18-6 overall and 12-3 in conference play. Fisher has now lost two games in a row and dropped to 15-9 overall and 8-7 in the E8.
The first ten minutes of the contest featured four ties but the Cardinals jumped out to an eight point lead, 19-11, after going on a 13-3 run over the course of 6:17. UC answered with an 11-0 run and held a 22-19 advantage with 4:01 left in the first half of play. Fisher closed out the first half of play on a 6-0 run and took a 25-22 lead as the halftime buzzer sounded.
The first ten minutes of the second period featured three more ties as the two squads battled back and fourth and the lead exchanged hands five times. UC used a 15-3 run over the course of 5:54 to take a commanding 11 point lead, 58-47, with 4:11 remaining in the contest.
The Pioneers went 10-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final 2:17 of play to seal the 13 point victory.
Devon Croll added 18 points and six rebounds for UC while Mallory Davis netted 12 points off the bench. Freshman point guard Katie McGee went 10-for-12 from the free throw line to account for all ten of her points.
UC remains on the road and takes on Alfred Saturday at 2 p.m.
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