Box Score St. John Fisher 66, Utica 55 - Box Score

Utica, NY (2-3-12) - The Utica College women's basketball team lost to host St. John Fisher, 66-55, on the road Friday in Empire 8 Conference action.  Junior Meghan Fiore (Epping, NH/Epping) scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed nine boards to lead the Pioneers.

UC has now lost four in a row as it will head down East Avenue Saturday afternoon in attempt to get back to its winnings ways against Empire 8 foe Nazareth College.  Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at the Otto Shults Center.

The first half featured six lead changes with the largest margin favored by UC, 26-18, at 6:07.  Freshman Bridget Greenwald (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) hit back-to-back freebies to pace the Pioneers biggest lead.  Senior Justine Karst (Olean, NY/Hinsdale) scored six of her total 11 points in the first half,  including a go-ahead lay up to put the Pioneers up 30-29 headed into intermission.

Over the first seven minutes, of the second half, the game remained tight and was tied, 38-38, with 12:06 to play.  It was then the home team began to gain momentum as the Cardinals used a 16-5 run and led 54-43, at 6:20.  UC could not recover as the teams evened a 12-12 margin to close out the match.

Fisher's Portia Velasco led the home team with 18 points on a perfect 7-of-7 from the line.

The Pioneers dropped to 7-14 overall and 2-8 in conference play while the Cardinals moved their overall record to 11-10 while improving to 7-3 in the E8.