UTICA, NY- The Utica College women's basketball team returns home Tuesday evening to take on Empire 8 Conference rival Hartwick College in the annual "Play 4Kay" game at the Clark Athletic Center. The opening tip-off is set for 6 p.m.

PLAY 4KAY:  The 2015 Play 4Kay initiative (formerly known as WBCA Pink Zone) is an opportunity for a nation of coaches to raise breast cancer awareness and funds for research on the court, across campuses, in communities and beyond … The Pioneers will dawn pink warm-ups and a 50/50 raffle and bake sale will also take place during the game with proceeds benefitting breast cancer awareness ... The Pioneers have hosted this event for the past six years, and have managed to raise over $2,500.

DOWN THE STRETCH WE COME: The Pioneers have fresh legs after over a week off from competition and they look to snap a four game slide against the Hawks … UC currently sits in fifth place in the conference standings with a 5-7 ledger in E8 play … Nazareth and St. John Fisher are in a third place tie as they both have an 8-3 record in the Empire 8 … Utica has a 9-12 record overall and they have four regular season conference contests remaining. 

RADIO BROADCAST INFO:  Both the women's and men's games will be broadcast on the radio locally at WTLB 99.1 FM/1310 AM (ESPN Radio) by play-by-play man Dave Peroni and color analyst Fred Miller … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB's website, www.espnur.com ... The games will also be broadcast on WPNR 90.7 FM by Utica College's student radio. 
 
PIONEERS ALL-ACCESS: If you can't make it out to Utica to watch the game in person, Pioneers All-Access is the place to be on game day, providing live video, audio (WPNR 90.7 FM) and stats for all UC home games on the court … Pioneers All-Access is a completely FREE service provided for those members of the Pioneer nation that might not be able to make it out to the game … Recent stories and social media are fully integrated into the Pioneers All-Access site for the most comprehensive viewing experience …  Make sure to check out Pioneers All-Access at www.ucpioneers.com/watch.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: This weekend's basketball games on WTLB 99.1 FM can be heard on the My Hometown Sports Application available in the Google Play store and on Apple ITunes... After you download the application make sure to select the ESPN Radio coverage … It's a free application so download today!

SOCIAL MEDIA: If you can't make it out to the game make sure to follow live updates on the Pioneers official Twitter feed: @UCPioneers… If you are at the game and on Twitter, or talking about the game on Twitter, make sure to use #UCMoose… You can also "Like" the Pioneers on Facebook at www.facebook.com/UCpioneers ... Fans can also follow the Pioneers on Instagram: UCPioneers.

LAST TIME OUT: The Pioneers will look to rebound after two tough road losses at Ithaca College and St. John Fisher College on January 30^th and 31^st … Utica defeated Hartwick earlier this season on January 20^th by the score of 53-47 … Senior Bridget Greenwald (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) led Utica with 12 points and 12 rebounds in the previous meeting against the Hawks.

SHARP SHOOTER: Junior guard Mary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) is first on the team and 10^th in the conference in points per game with an average of 12.6… She also leads the conference in free throw shooting percentage (81.3%)… Miceli is eighth in the conference in total points with 252 … Miceli became the sixth player in program-history to register 100 or more career 3-pointers earlier this season … She currently ranks fourth all-time at UC with 117 career 3-pointers made and she needs seven more to surpass Alicia Taranto '01 for third all-time.

UNDER THE BASKET: Utica's Bridget Greenwald (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) ranks third in the conference and leads the team with 9.0 rebounds per game… She also ranks third on the team in points, averaging 9.2 per game … Greenwald is fourth all-time at UC with 766 career rebounds … She leads the team with six double-doubles this season … Utica's Samantha Stayer (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) currently ranks second on the team with an average of 10.1 points per game … Stayer also ranks second on the team with 6.3 rebounds per game … She currently has 740 career points and 406 career rebounds.

GROWING UP QUICK: Freshmen Ashley Mayo (Nanuet, NY/Nanuet), Ashelyne Babb (Lynn, MA/Winthrop) and Amanda Henderson (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph by the Sea) rank fifth, sixth and seventh respectively on the team in points per game… Henderson is second on the team in 3-point field goals with 16 total … In the last eight games Mayo is averaging 9.4 points per game and Babb is averaging 9.1 points per game. 

DEFENSE CREATES OFFENSE: Utica has out-rebounded its opponents 894-838 so far this season … The Pioneers have registered 205 steals and they have forced 398 turnovers.

SCOUTING HARTWICK: Hartwick heads to Utica with a 5-15 overall record including a 3-8 mark in the Empire 8 Conference … The Hawks are looking to snap a two game losing streak after falling to Houghton and Stevens, in consecutive games … They have won one of their last nine games … Hartwick is led by Taylor Vonasek who is averaging 12.6 points to go along with 5.8 rebounds per contest … Emily Stone ranks second on the team with 9.6 points per game.