The Utica College women's basketball team travels to Ithaca College Friday to take on Stevens Institute of Technology in the first round of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament. The semi-final contest is scheduled to start at 8 p.m. The contest will be broadcast live locally on WIBX 950 AM.
Utica, making its sixth straight conference tournament appearance, closed out the regular season with a 19-6 overall record and a 12-4 mark in conference play. The Pioneers head into post season play having won four of their last five games. In two games against Stevens this season, the Pioneers split the series 1-1. UC won in its first meeting against the Ducks, 58-51, at home on Jan. 5th. In their second meeting on Feb. 5th, UC lost 67-64, at Stevens in Hoboken, N.J.
The Pioneers are guided by junior forward Jessica Berry (Rome, N.Y.) who leads the team averaging 21.9 points per game (549), 10 rebounds per game (251), and 1.2 blocked shots (30) per game. Berry received conference player of the week five times this season and led the Empire 8 in scoring and total minutes. She was second in the conference in rebounds and blocked shots. This year versus Stevens, Berry averaged 24.5 points and eight rebounds in two games. She scored 30 or more points five times this season - including a team high 32-point performance versus RIT on Jan. 29th.
With one game remaining on its regular season schedule, Stevens Institute of Technology is currently 15-9 overall and 11-4 in the Empire 8 Conference. As a team, Stevens led the Empire 8 in free throw percentage and rebounding.
The Ducks are led by Brittany Fuller, who is second in points per games and total points in the Empire 8 behind Berry. Fuller averaged 16.3 points and had 392 total points. She is also fifth in rebounding in conference play.
The winner of Friday's match up will face either Ithaca College or St. John Fisher College Saturday in the Empire 8 Championship game. The winner of the conference championship earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. In recent years, the Pioneers are 1-3 in the first round of this tournament and look move on to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007-08 when they beat Stevens in the Empire 8 Conference Championships, 55-46. UC lost to Stevens last year 57-53 in the first round of the playoffs at Ithaca College.
---www.ucpioneers.com---
