Box Score SUNYIT 76, Utica 70 - Women's Basketball Final

Utica, NY (1/2/2013) – The Utica College women's basketball team outscored visiting SUNYIT 41-38 in the second half, and freshman guard Mary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) netted a career-high 27 points, but it was not enough to rally from a nine point halftime deficit as the Pioneers lost 76-70 to the Wildcats for the second consecutive season.  UC's record moved to 5-6 overall headed into a key Empire 8 Conference weekend against visiting St. John Fisher College (Friday, 6 p.m.) and Alfred University (Saturday, 2 p.m.). 

Freshman Racquel Baudanza (Staten Island, NY/New Dorp) added a career-best 19 point effort, but the rest of the Pioneers' combined for just 24 in the six point loss.  Bridget Greenwald (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) scored six points and ripped down eight boards for UC. 

Senior shooting guard Lyndsey Brognano netted 24 points and added seven assists, while hitting the Wildcats only two 3-pointers of the evening.  The Wildcats (2-4) knocked down 16-of-21 free throws on the afternoon and they also hauled in 18 offensive rebounds.  Abbey Hanahan registered a double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Kayla McNeil netted 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor.  Lauren Knowles provided a nice boost off the bench for SUNYIT, as she registered six points and five rebounds. 

SUNYIT jumped out to a quick 13-6 lead in the first 5:31 of the game behind five points from Brognano and four from McNeil.  UC's Mary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) netted five straight points to pull UC within two at the 13:41 ledger, but the visitors answered right back with an 11-0 run in a span of 3:48 to push its lead back to 13 points, 24-11, with 9:15 left in the first half of play. 

Utica closed out the final 7:04 of the first half with a 16-10 run to cut the Wildcat lead to 38-29 at the intermission. 

The first seven minutes of the second half was a back and forth battle until the Pioneers used an 8-2 run in a span of 5:21 to trail by just one point, 54-53, with 7:12 to play. That's when SUNYIT delivered the dagger in the form of a 10-2 run in 2:32 to take a 64-55 lead with 4:25 left to play.  The Pioneers were able to cut their deficit to four points, 67-63, with 1:59 to play, but that was as close as they would get.  SUNYIT made five free throws in the final 29 seconds to seal the win. 

The Wildcats led the entire contest and pushed their lead to as many as 15 points in the first half. SUNYIT turned 17 Utica turnovers into 19 points on the other end. The Wildcats were also able to hold UC leading scorer Meghan Fiore (Epping, NH/Epping) to just 13 minutes of action before she fouled out.  Fiore finished the day with eight points and six rebounds.  Sophomore Samantha Stayer (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) added eight points and five rebounds. 

The Wildcats remain on the road this weekend, for game two of a four game road trip, when they travel to NEAC Conference foe Penn State-Harrisburg on Saturday at 12 p.m.

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