UTICA, NY – The Utica College women's basketball team lost 44-38 Tuesday night to Empire 8 rival Hartwick College in the Annual "Play for Kay" Game at the Clark Athletic Center. The Pioneers were led by Amanda Henderson (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph by the Sea)'s 11 points on 3-of-10 shooting from downtown.  Utica wore pink uniforms and raised $300 throughout the night to benefit breast cancer awareness.

UC falls to 9-13 including a 5-8 mark in Empire 8 play and hits the road this weekend for back-to-back league games on the road.  The Pioneers head to Nazareth College on Friday (4 p.m.) before traveling to Houghton College on Saturday (2 p.m.).

UC opened up the contest on a 9-2 run over the first four minutes of action led by three quick points from Christy Traglia (Mohawk, NY/Mohawk). Hartwick answered with six straight points to cut the lead to one, 9-8, with 11:38 left to play in the first. The visitors took their first lead of the afternoon, 15-13, off a deep ball from Emily Stone at 5:30, however could not hold on as Utica closed out the first 20 minutes of play with a 23-19 lead. UC outshot the Hawks 47.6% to 36.0% in the first half.

The Pioneers were outscored 25-15 in the second half while shooting a dismal 19.2% from the floor. UC shot just 1-for-11 from deep and 4-of-12 from the free throw line in the second half as "Wick" handed the Pioneers its fifth consecutive defeat.

Senior Bridget Greenwald (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) grabbed 12 boards along with seven points for UC while Samantha Stayer (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) added six points and four boards in the loss.

The Hawks were led by Taylor Vonasek's double-double on 13 points and 13 boards, despite shooting just 34.0% from the floor for the game.

Hartwick moves their overall season mark to 6-15 as well as 4-8 in conference play and remain on the road Friday to face Ithaca College for a 6 p.m. tip-off.