UTICA, NY - The Utica College women's basketball team looks to remain over the .500 mark as it wraps up the pre-holiday portion of their schedule with a visit to area rival Morrisville State College on Saturday. Tip time at Morrisville's Stewart Center is scheduled for noon.

Where We Stand: Utica is currently 4-3 in seven non-conference games to start the season. The Pioneers have won two of their last three games heading into Saturday's game, although Utica took a loss in its most recent game against SUNY Poly. Utica has beaten Potsdam, Wells, Alfred State, and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

Keeping Up With The Joneses: Utica joins a plethora of other Empire 8 Conference teams out to a quality start this season in non-conference action. Eight of the conference's nine women's basketball programs have a .500 or better winning percentage at this point in the year.

Last Time Out: Freshman Sydney Przygoda (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) continued her exceptional start to her college career with another double double, with a career-high 18 rebounds and a career-best tying 17 points, but the Pioneers could not overcome their 22 turnovers and 23 points off turnovers by SUNY Poly as the Wildcats posted a 68-61 win at the Clark Athletic Center. Utica led by one point at halftime before it was outscored by the visitors in the second half. Sophomore guard Brigid Johndrow (Bristol, CT/St. Paul Catholic) posted 14 points for Utica including three made 3-pointers, and Briannah Florian (Fort Plain, NY/Fort Plain) tacked on 13 points for the Pioneers to round out a triumvirate in double figures. Molly Burdick was the driving force for the Wildcats with 20 points and nine rebounds.

Winning Big: In Utica's four victories this season, the Pioneers have averaged a margin of victory of 17.5 points per game. Their largest margin of victory has been 19 points, and Utica has posted all four victories by 15 points or more.

Ahead of Last Year: Heading into this matchup last season, the Pioneers had won one less game with a record of 3-4 at this time last year against a nearly identical schedule. Utica was able to turn around a 2017 one point loss to MCLA into a commanding win in the early stages of this season.

Don't Blink: Saturday marks Utica's second-to-last non-conference game before Empire 8 play begins in January.

On The Road Again: Following a five game homestand, Utica is set to play its first road game since November 17th. The Pioneers opened the season 2-0 with both wins coming on the road against Potsdam and Wells. Brigid Johndrow (Bristol, CT/St. Paul Catholic) has averaged 16.5 points per game in the team's two road games including a career-high 20 points against Wells, while Sydney Przygoda (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) and Nicolette Conkin (Los Altos, CA/Homestead) have been in double figures for both road contests. This marks the beginning of a seven game road trip that wraps up on January 15th at Hartwick. Utica returns home on Saturday, January 18th to meet St. John Fisher in an Empire 8 clash.

Counting Beans: Utica is currently sixth among Empire 8 squads in scoring offense at 59.9 points per game, and fourth in scoring defense at 53.7 points allowed per game.

Paving The Way: Sophomore guard Brigid Johndrow (Bristol, CT/St. Paul Catholic) has stepped into the limelight in her second year as a starter, as her accuracy in all shooting disciplines and ability to create space has led to her occupying the team lead in scoring at 12.9 points per game. For the season she is shooting over 40 percent from the field, 83 percent from the foul line, and 34.2 percent from beyond the arc where she has made a team-high 13 3-pointers. She has missed just three foul shot attempts in her first seven games. She is eighth in the Empire 8 conference in points per game, and fourth in three pointers made per game.

West Coast Ballin': Junior guard Nicolette Conkin (Los Altos, CA/Homestead) has also shown a significant uptick in production after being called upon to fill offseason voids left in the Pioneer backcourt by graduation. Conkin averages 11.6 points per game and has a team-best 31 assists. She has landed in double figures in five of her seven games played, including a season-best 17 points in a loss to Oneonta. She's also one of the conference's best rebounding guards, and has averaged 6.4 rebounds per game to stand second on the team and just outside the Top 10 among all players in the conference.

Rookie Sensation: In the early portions of her college career, freshman Sydney Przygoda (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) has proven she can do it all in the low post for Utica. The rookie stands second on the team in scoring with 12.4 points per game, and also averages 12.4 rebounds a game to lead the Empire 8 conference. She has four double-doubles this season including three in the last four games. Przygoda also tends to get to the line at a fairly significant rate as she has a team high 41 foul shot attempts this year. She also has proven she can go the distance and eat up a ton of minutes at the five position if need be for head coach Michele Davis, as she has played 30 minutes or more in six of seven games and recently played every minute of the game against SUNY Poly

Mark Your Calendars: Utica's alumni game and "A Game for Brooks Miles" will be held concurrently on Saturday, January 26th as the Pioneers host Nazareth. The squad's Faculty Appreciation Game will be held on Friday, February 15th against Alfred, and senior night will be the following night as Utica squares off against Houghton.

Last Year: The Pioneers prevailed over the Mustangs by eight points by a 77-69 final score in Utica. Utica had four players score ten points or more in the game. Ashlyne Babb led Utica with 23 points, Alaina Tripp (Clyde, NY/Clyde-Savannah) tacked on 14, Ashley Mayo (Bronx, NY/Nanuet) had 12, and Jeslyn Files (Weedsport, NY/Weedsport) finished the matchup with 10 points. Briannah Florian (Fort Plain, NY/Fort Plain) had nine points and ten rebounds. Morrisville's Alexis Campbell had 18 points, and Haley Kilmartin had 16 to lead a group of three Mustangs in double figures. Utica shot nearly 43 percent from the field and had 46 points in the paint.
 

About Morrisville: The Mustangs are currently 1-8 this season, with their lone win coming against Cazenovia. They have lost three games by four points or less, and most recently lost by four points to Keystone College, 83-79. Alexis Campbell leads the team with 16.8 points per game, and Tori Rockefeller also puts up big numbers at 16.1 points per game. The Mustangs have already played two conference games and are 1-1 in the Northeastern Athletic Conference.

Up Next: Utica will take Interstate 90 to Schenectady for their final non-conference bout of the season against Union College. Tip time on Sunday, December 30th will be 2 p.m.