The Utica College women's basketball team fended off a late rally by Nazareth en route to a 59-55 Empire 8 Conference victory over the Golden Flyers Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers (10-2, 4-0) have now won five in a row and remain undefeated in conference play. Three different players scored in double figures for UC including Jessica Berry (19), Devon Croll (12) and Katie McGee (12).
The Pioneers forced 24 turnovers which led to 25 points and they also knocked down 23-of-30 free throw shots in the victory. The Pioneers have now won seven of their last eight games headed into Tuesday night's key conference match up against Ithaca College. Utica and Ithaca are currently tied for first place in the conference and they are both 4-0 in Empire 8 play. Nazareth has now lost five of its last six games after starting out the season 5-0 and the Golden Flyers overall record now stands at 7-6.
Utica jumped out to a commanding 11 point lead, 17-6, at the 12:25 mark of the first half behind nine points from Devon Croll. Nazareth answered with a 16-2 run over the course of 7:44 to take a five point lead, 32-27, with 2:28 to go in the first half of play. UC used a 6-0 run to close out the half and take a one point lead into the locker room as the halftime buzzer sounded.
The Pioneers lead extended to as many as 14 points, 50-36, midway through the second half. Nazareth would not go down without a fight though and they used a 19-6 run in a span of 9:35 to cut the UC lead to just one, 56-55, with 54 seconds to go in the game. The Pioneers took advantage of a missed free throw by Kylie Bartlett with 11 seconds to go in the game and UC connected on 3-of-4 free throws in the final seven seconds to seal the four point victory.
Berry added a team-high eight rebounds to go along with her game-high 19 points, while Stephanie Nara chipped in with five points as well for UC. Justine Karst and Meghan Fiore also added four points each for the Pioneers.
Bartlett led the way for Naz with 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range. Jenee Vanderstyne added ten points but she also turned the ball over seven times in the Golden Flyer's loss. Rachel Pirozzolo had a team-high eight rebounds for Nazareth.
Utica will take on Ithaca Tuesday night in Empire 8 Conference play at 6 p.m., while Nazareth returns to action Tuesday night when they take part in the Wendy's Classic.
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