UTICA, NY - The Utica College women's basketball team took its second loss of the 2019-20 campaign on Wednesday night. The Pioneers took an eight point halftime deficit and trimmed it down to just a single point with 2:17 remaining, but host SUNY Poly closed on a 9-0 run to secure a 70-60 win over the Pioneers at the Campus Center Gym in Marcy.
The Pioneers are now 5-2 on the young season, and still have three non-conference matchups remaining before the holiday break.
Forward
Sydney Przygoda (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) had the second best rebounding effort of her career with 19 rebounds, along with 20 points and three steals to lead the Pioneers for the evening. Guard
Nicolette Conkin (Los Altos, CA/Homestead) had fifteen points and five assists, and the Pioneers also got eleven points from
Brigid Johndrow (Bristol, CT/St. Paul Catholic). Przygoda and Conkin went the distance by playing all 40 minutes of the matchup.
Utica shot 33.3 percent from the field and made seven three point field goals in the matchup. They out-rebounded the Wildcats 44-37, and scored fifteen points off of Poly turnovers. Jaida Washington led the Wildcats with 21 points and eight rebounds, and Taylor Aybar had 12 points and nine rebounds. Foul shots were vital for the hosts in a tight game, as they were able to convert 16 of 19 free throws.
The Pioneers got off to an early lead, as a 5-0 start and a 50 percent shooting effort from the field guided them to a 17-14 advantage after one quarter of play. SUNY Poly turned things back into their favor with a 22 point second quarter to hold a 36-25 lead at the break.
Utica sustained an even third quarter score at 14-14 to stagnate the halftime deficit. Przygoda had six points in the quarter, and the Pioneers earned a total of thirteen foul shot attempts in the third quarter alone to stay within striking distance.
With victory still within reach, the Pioneers made their move in the fourth to eventually get back within a single point. Highlighting the quarter was an 8-0 run to make up much of the difference between Utica and the Wildcats. That narrowed the Wildcat lead down to just four points with 7:02 remaining. Utica kept the deficit under ten points and would eventually chip away to trail by as little as one point, but the Wildcats brought their game-closing 9-0 run to the table to walk away with the win.
Their next contest will be a non-conference meeting with Hamilton College on Monday, December 9th at 7 p.m.
