UTICA, NY — The Utica College women's basketball team is set to take on Nazareth College on Tuesday in a makeup game from January 5. Game time is scheduled for 8 p.m.
Last Time Out: UC is coming off a tough road trip this past weekend, where they went 0-2 against Nazareth and St. John Fisher. In the loss against Nazareth, senior Ashley Mayo (Bronx, NY/Nanuet) had the hot hand with 11 points and six rebounds. Backcourt mate Ashelyne Babb (Lynn, MA/Winthrop) recorded eight points, seven boards, and four steals. Against Fisher, senior forward Alaina Trip scored a team-high 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Tripp shot a solid 7-for-9 at the free throw line. Mayo chipped in seven points while becoming the 12th player in program history to reach the 1,000 point milestone. Senior Maggie Tabone (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili) snagged seven boards off the bench.
Mayo and Babb Leading The Way: The senior backcourt have been putting up some great numbers thus far. Mayo currently averages 13.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game. She currently ranks ninth in the conference in points per game and sixth in steals per game. As for Babb, she is averaging 11.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, team-high 3.6 assists and 2.7 steals per game. Babb is seventh in the E8 in assists and first in steals. She also ranks in the top three with a 1.2 assists to turnover ratio.
Solid Tripp: Senior forward Alaina Tripp (Clyde, NY/Clyde-Savannah) has been the work horse down low this season. The senior is averaging 8.0 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. This past weekend she averaged 8.5 points and 5.5 rebounds for the Pioneers. Tripp currently ranks 10th in the E8 in rebounds per game.
Scouting Naz: The Golden Flyers are 9-9 overall and 5-4 in E8 play, currently holding the No. 4 spot in the conference. They are coming off of a weekend sweep, beating Utica 71-43 and Sage 52-42. They are led by senior Samantha Peebles and Rachel Benedict. Peebles' 19.8 points per game puts her at No. 1 in the Empire 8 rankings. Benedict sits at No. 4 with an average of 15.3.
Conference Standings: The Pioneers are 3-6 in conference action, which puts them at a tie for the seventh spot (with Elmira) in the conference rankings. The full E8 standings are as follows: 1. St John Fisher (9-1 E8), 2. Houghton (6-3 E8), 2. Sage (6-3 E8), 4. Nazareth (5-4 E8), 4. Stevens (5-5 E8), 6. Hartwick (4-4 E8), 7. Elmira (3-6 E8), 7. Utica (3-6 E8), 9. Alfred (0-9 E8). UC has some work do with seven games remaining on the schedule to fight for a slot in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament.
Looking Ahead: The Pioneers will be back home on February 3rd to play Houghton College once more. The game is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
