ELMIRA, NY (January 9, 2015) – The Utica College women's basketball team snapped a five game losing streak Friday evening as it downed Empire 8 rival Elmira College, 66-60, at the Speidel Gymnasium. The Pioneers were led by
Mary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle)'s game-high, 32 point effort.
UC improves to 5-8 overall as well as 1-3 in Empire 8 play and is right back in action Saturday as it heads to Alfred University to face the Saxons. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the James A. McLane Physical Education Center on Alfred's campus.
The Soaring Eagles fall to 4-7 overall and 1-3 in conference action and remain home Saturday for another Empire 8 matchup as it welcomes Houghton College (2 p.m.).
The teams traded baskets over the first 10 minutes of play as the scoreboard showed a 14-14 tie at the halfway mark. UC then made a push using a 7-0 run, in a span of three minutes, to take a 21-14 lead with 7:01 remaining. The home team answered, however with a run of its own as it went on a 14-5 strut to close out the first 20 minutes with a 28-25 edge.
Elmira opened up the second half on an 18-8 push to take a 13 point lead, 46-33, a little over eight minutes into the final half. UC then regrouped and worked a run of its own to get back into the contest managing a 22-9 rout over the next nine minutes to knot up the match, 55-55, with 2:36 left in regulation. Utica continued its momentum and closed out the game with a 66-60 victory as it got back to its winning ways with its first win of the season in league play.
Miceli shot 10-of-19 from the floor along with hitting 10-of-13 free throws while grabbing seven boards in the win.
Christy Traglia (Mohawk, NY/Mohawk) and
Samantha Stayer (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) each chipped in with nine points while combining for 10 rebounds.
Elmira was guided by Karli Pochkar who tallied a team-best 21 points and eight boards in the loss.
EC outshot UC as it finished the contest with a 41.8% mark from the floor compared to Utica's 39.3% from the field. However, the Pioneers 51.72% performance in the second half proved tough down the stretch as UC grabbed its first win in E8 play, on the road.
