UTICA, NY – The Utica College women's basketball team looks to collect more Empire 8 Conference wins this weekend, hosting St. John Fisher College at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Nazareth College at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Last Time Out: The Pioneers collected their first two conference wins of the season, defeating Elmira College 84-34 Friday night at home, before taking down the defending E8 Champion, Hartwick 67-60 on the road Saturday.
Nicolette Conkin (Los Altos, CA/Homestead) went off in Friday's contest, collecting 28 points, including shooting 7-for-11 from beyond the arc, and eight assists.
Sydney Przygoda (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) had 13 points and seven rebounds. Przygoda came up big in the victory on Saturday, collecting her sixth double-double of the season on a team-best 19 points and 19 rebounds.
Pioneers Making Noise: UC is the only conference member with athletes ranked in the top-10 across the nation in any statistical categories. Conkin currently ranks first in the nation in assists with 95, while ranking fourth in assists per game with 6.8. Przygoda finds herself ranked in sixth in the country in field goal percentage as she is shooting 64 percent (110-of-172) from the floor.
Scouting St. John Fisher: The Cardinals currently have the second-best record in the E8, 2-0 in conference play, going 9-4 overall. Fisher went perfect in its conference opening weekend, upending Alfred 75-43 on Friday and Houghton 69-56 on Saturday. Ella Eckert led her squad over the span, collecting 13 points and seven rebounds on Friday, before posting a double-double on a 15 points and a team-best 13 boards on Saturday. Also recording a double-double against the Highlanders was Julia Mertsock with her 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Scouting Nazareth: The Golden Flyers sit atop the conference heading into the weekend, with an overall mark of 10-3 on the season and 2-0 in conference. Nazareth took down Houghton 90-47 at home on Friday, before taking down Alfred 70-56 on the road Saturday. Senior Rachel Benedict led the team in scoring against the Highlanders, collecting 17 points in the opening half, finishing with 23. In Saturday's contest she posted a double-double on 13 points and 10 boards. Benedict now has 1,408 career points in 89 games played. Also strong in the battle with the Saxons was Jayden Abrams with a team-leading 16 points and Isabella Gjonaj with her double-double on 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Leading Their Squads and the Empire 8: For UC, Conkin owns the top spot in the conference in five categories; 3-pointers made (3), 3-pointers per game (2.7), assists ( 95), assists per game (6.8) and steals per game (3.4). The senior also ranks second in field goals made with 89 and third in points per game, averaging 17.6. Przygoda leads the E8 in points per game (19.0), field goals made (110) and field goal percentage (.640), while ranking third in rebounds per game (11.0).
Petrina DeMarco (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) finds herself ranked second in 3-pointers made with 34, just four shy of the top spot.
Fisher has one athlete ranked in the top-5 in two categories. Eckert is third in field goal percentage with a mark of .490, and fifth in points per game, averaging 13.2.
For Nazareth, Benedict, last year's E8 Player of the Year, ranks in the top-2 in two categories. She is first in rebounds per game, averaging 12.5, while ranking second in points per game with 18.8.
Up Next: After this weekend UC will hit the road for a two-game trip, starting at Houghton Friday, scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start time. Saturday the squad will travel to Alfred University for a 4 pm game.
