Box Score
Utica, NY (February 22, 2014) – Houghton College senior Kristen Moose closed out her collegiate career by netting the game-winner with two seconds left on the clock to lift the visiting Highlanders to a 66-64 victory over Utica College on Saturday night.  Moose finished the night with a game-high 35 points for the visitors. 

Utica's Mary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) netted a team-high 18 points for UC, while junior Samantha Stayer (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) capped her breakout campaign with a 17 point, seven rebound effort.  Stayer finished the season ranked second on the team with an average of 12.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. 

The Pioneers wrapped up their 2013-14 campaign with a 7-18 overall record, but they will return all five starters and do not lose a single player to graduation. 

Junior Marissa Kahane (Sayville, NY/Sayville) netted 10 points off the bench for the Pioneers, while captain Bridget Greenwald (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) scored eight points and grabbed a season-high 18 rebounds. Greenwald capped the season by averaging 10.8 points and 11.6 rebounds per contest. 

Utica's largest lead of the contest was seven points and it came after opening the game on a 25-18 run in the first 17:38.  Stayer led the Pioneers opening push with nine points, while the Utica defense caused 11 turnovers and held the visitors to just 6-of-26 shooting from the floor in the stretch.  Houghton went on a 12-8 run in the final 2:21 of the first half and the Pioneers led by three, 33-30, as the first half horn sounded.  Maisie Pipher and Stephany Ellison each had six points in the closing two minutes of the first half for Houghton.

The Highlanders opened the second half on a 12-3 run to take a 42-38 lead with 14:29 to go in the contest.  Moose netted eight points in the stretch. 28 of Moose's 35 points came in the second half of play.

The contest was tied on eight different occasions in the final 10:34 of the game as both teams exchanged buckets down the stretch. The Pioneers trailed 64-59 with 1:30 left in the contest until sophomore guard Mary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) scored a lay-up with 1:14 to go and hit a huge 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to knot the score at 64-64. Moose picked the Highlanders up on her back in the final 2:47 of the game, knocking down two 3-pointers and two big jumpers, including the game-winner with two seconds left to lift Houghton to the victory. 

Utica's Miceli finished the year with a team-best average of 14.3 points per game.