UTICA, NY - The Utica College women's basketball team got a long-awaited victory on Tuesday night at the Clark Athletic Center. In a game that featured a total of 25 lead changes, Utica got the all-important last one as junior guard Nicolette Conkin (Los Altos, CA/Homestead) drove through a ball screen and knocked down a three point basket from the top of the arc to wipe out a one point deficit and give the Pioneers an 84-82 Empire 8 Conference win over visiting Sage at home.

The triumph snapped a nine game skid for Utica and gave the Pioneers their second Empire 8 win of the season. Utica improves to 7-13, and 2-9 in the Empire 8 conference. Fifth-place Sage falls to 10-11 overall.

Twin double-double performances guided the way to victory for Utica. Conkin led the charge offensively for Utica with a season-high 25 points to go with 12 assists for her first double-double of the season. She made a team-best five three point field goals, which was also a career-high for the junior. Freshman post player Sydney Przygoda (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) also had the home crowd marveling with another brilliant effort as she had 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the game and fourteen rebounds. It was her thirteenth double-double of the season in her inaugural campaign. Sophomore Kimberly Soriano (Queens, NY/Monsignor McClancey Memorial) posted fourteen points that included four baskets from the perimeter, and classmate Brigid Johndrow (Bristol, CT/St. Paul Catholic) rounded out Utica's double figure scorers with 11 points.

Sage scored the game's first points on a three point basket by Gessica Patregnani, and Utica set the tone for a back-and-forth affair by scoring the next two baskets on a jump shot by Brigid Johndrow (Bristol, CT/St. Paul Catholic) and a fast break layup by Przygoda to give the Pioneers a 4-3 lead. After Sage re-took the lead at 5-4, the Pioneers would be the first to try and make a run for it as Soriano began to heat up from the perimeter. The sophomore guard fueled an 11-4 Pioneer run with three three-pointers on consecutive attempts, and Przygoda added a second layup as Utica rolled out to a 15-9 lead.

Sage closed the gap throughout the remainder of the quarter bolstered by a pair of three pointers from Emily Parslow and Emily Cross, and took the lead back on Parslow's 3-point goal with 1:10 left in the quarter. Utica re-took the lead on a Pryzgoda basket in the final minute, but the Gators again snagged the advantage on a field goal with four seconds to go as the Gators led 23-22 after one quarter of action.

The lead trading continued into the second quarter as Madison O'Hagan (Seaford, NY/Seaford) opened with a go-ahead layup, and Parslow answered back with another deep three for the Gators for a 26-24 lead. The latter sparked a spectacular three point shootout between the two teams in the ensuing moments. Utica's Petrina DeMarco (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) answered Parslow's basket with a triple of her own, then responded to another Gator deep ball with a second as Utica again grabbed the lead 30-29.

The teams swapped the lead three more times, but Sage's Megan Flynn scored her team's last seven points to guide the Gators ahead as they took a 41-39 advantage into the locker room. Utica shot 40 percent from the field in the first half, and had eighteen points in the paint to Sage's 20.

Utica surged back ahead with a 5-0 run to begin the third quarter of play on baskets from Soriano and Johndrow. After a pair of free throws by Sage, Conkin added another three and Pryzgoda got into the paint for another layup. That capped off what became a 10-2 surge as Utica snagged a 49-43 lead after starting the quarter with the halftime deficit. Sage bounced back with a 10-0 run in the next 1:53, capped off by a Patregnani three pointer to lead 53-49.

The Gators continued to shoot the ball well for the remainder of the frame, with eleven more points in the last 5:15 of the quarter. They led by as many as seven, but Utica got key contributions offensively from Pryzgoda and Conkin to chop up the lengthy scoring run and a Pioneer shooting drought while preventing the Gators from pulling too far away. With the seven point lead on the table for the Gators, Utica capped off the quarter with an exclamation point. A three pointer by Johndrow beat the buzzer to trim Sage down to a 64-60 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Another quarter-opening 5-0 run placed the Pioneers ahead yet again, as Florian sparked the Pioneers with an early bucket and Conkin drained a three pointer to snare a 65-64 lead. It would be the start of an incredible fourth quarter for the junior guard, who went off for 14 of her points on 5-of-6 shooting in the frame. The teams swapped baskets again from there with a pair of Sage trifectas putting the game in the hand of the visitors while Utica knotted the score between them on a lay-in by Pryzgoda.

The Gators continually maintained a lead between one and two possessions until inside 4:43 left, when an 8-0 Utica run began to squash a 79-73 Sage lead and swing things back in the Pioneers' favor. A Conkin layup put Utica up 81-79 with just over two and a half minutes to go.

Sage re-acquired the lead with 1:39 left on a Patregnani three pointer, and the visitors' one point advantage was capped as the Pioneers got two key defensive stops to set up the last basket. Conkin splashed the deciding trifecta with five seconds remaining. A final trip up the floor for Sage proved fruitless as the Pioneers got the last key stop and an 84-82 victory.

The Pioneers are back in action on Friday, February 8th as they meet Elmira College at 5:30 p.m in Elmira, NY.