UTICA, NY (January 2, 2015) – The Utica College women's basketball team dropped its Empire 8 Conference opener Friday evening, 76-65, to St. John Fisher at the Clark Athletic Center. The Pioneers were led by seniors
Samantha Stayer (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) and
Bridget Greenwald (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) who combined for 22 points and 11 rebounds.
UC falls to 4-6 overall including a 0-1 mark in E8 play and is right back on the court Saturday as it welcomes Ithaca College for another league game. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at the Clark Center.
The Cardinals move to 8-2 on the season while 1-0 in conference play and remain on the road as they travel to Elmira Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip-off against the Soaring Eagles.
The Cardinals jumped out to a quick 11-0 run over the first three minutes of play before UC got on the board. The visitors continued their push moving to an 18 point lead, 24-6, with 12:26 left in the first half. Fisher would work its biggest lead of the game, 36-16, at 7:53 before UC made a push to get back into the contest. The Pioneers used a 17-7 run to close out the half down by just 10, 43-33.
UC continued its rush into the second half as they pulled within two points, 45-43, just over three minutes into the second. Utica opened up the final 20 minutes on a 10-2 push but could not keep up with the Cardinals as the visitors answered with a 13-0 run. Over the following four minutes of action, Fisher moved to a 15 point advantage, 58-43, and would go on to grab their eighth win of the season, 76-65.
Kelsey Cowell (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen),
Ashley Mayo (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet) and
Mary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) each posted eight points on a combined 9-of-20 shooting.
Portia Velasco and Mary Kate Cusack totaled more than half of Fisher's points as the duo combined for 38 points (19 each) to extend the squad's win streak to four in a row.
Utica shot a mere 35% from the floor on 21-of-60 including 64.5% from the charity stripe (20-31) compared to the visiting Cardinals who posted 60% from the free throw line on 18-of-30 and 50% from the floor (26-52).
