Box Score Hartwick 78, Utica 59 - Box Score

Utica, NY (1-14-12) - The Utica College women's basketball team (5-19, 0-4 Empire 8) lost Saturday afternoon, 78-58, to host  Hartwick College (10-3, 3-1 Empire 8 ) at the Lambros Arena in Oneonta, NY. The Pioneers were led by sophomore forward Meghan Fiore (Epping, NH/Epping) who netted a double-double on 27 points and 10 boards, both game and season-high's.

UC returns to the hardwood Tuesday, Jan. 17 as it hosts Drew University in its last non-conference contest of the season.  Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the Clark Athletic Center. Drew Head Coach Brittany Gaetano is a New Hartford, NY native.

The teams traded baskets to open up the game, 2-2, and that would be the closest UC would get to the Hawks.  Hartwick opened up a quick 9-0 run over the fisrt four minutes to take an 11-2 lead.  The Pioneers rebounded with an 8-2 run of their own pulling within three of the lead, 13-10, at 13:15.  However, the Hawks seem to have an answer for every Utica score as they took off on another 8-0 spree and held a 21-10 advantage at 10:50.  The final ten minutes, wrapped up with HC outscoring UC, 21-15 as Hawk shooter Katie Veit drained back-to-back three-pointers, in the final 90 seconds, to take a 42-25 edge into the locker room.  Fiore and senior forward Justine Karst (Olean, NY/Hinsdale) combined for 22-of-25 first half points for the Pioneers.

Utica came out in the second half scoring five straight points as they trimmed the lead to12, 42-30, at 16:25. The home team answered again, rattling off a nine consecutive points to break open its biggest lead of the game, 51-30, with 13:00 to play.  Over the next eight minutes, the squads traded scores before UC's comeback attempt.  Starting at 9:00, the Pioneers managed a 13-2 streak, over six minutes, to cut the lead to 11 points as UC trailed 63-52.  UC pulled within nine of the lead, 65-56, at 1:47, however fell short as the home-team defeated the Pioneers, convincingly

HC shot 52.6% (10-of-19) from behind the arc along with a perfect 12-of-12 from the FT line. Utica hit 15-of-21 free throws for 71.4% and only 4-of-18 (22.2%) from downtown.

Senior's Justine Karst (Olean, NY/Hinsdale) and Katie McGee (Philadelphia, PA/Nazareth) combined for 21 points and 14 rebounds.  McGee also added eight dishes as she remains the league leader in assists.

UC has now lost seven in a row, including four in the E8, and drop to eighth place while HC moved to 10-3 overall incluidng a 3-1 mark in the Empire 8.  The Hawks moved into third place with the win and go on the road to play Vassar College Tuesday.  Hartwick's Kate Purcell and Maria Foglia totaled 39 points and 10 boards, including 10-for-10 from the free throw line.