UTICA, NY - The Utica College basketball team looks to keep rolling this week against three Empire 8 teams, all of which are currently within the top-4 in the conference standings. UC will host Hartwick College at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday before traveling to western New York to play St. John Fisher at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Nazareth College at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Follow Along: Fans can follow with live video/stats on Tuesday through
https://bit.ly/2wtxUV5. Fisher will provide live video on Friday through
https://bit.ly/2HB1Fes and live stats through
https://bit.ly/32WOhgl. Nazareth will also have live video and stats provided through
https://bit.ly/2MOZOjA.
Last Time Out: The Pioneers team tied the program's second longest winning streak ever after defeating the Keuka College Wolves 65-32 on Saturday afternoon for the team's 11th straight win. The Pioneers opened the floodgates early through intense, active defense and converting on opportunistic shots. The Wolves hit a three for the first bucket of the game 1:15 into the first quarter while UC ended the quarter on an 18-3 run with the only other Keuka basket coming on a half court buzzer-beater. The second quarter was nearly identical to the first with the Pioneers out-scoring the Wolves 18-7 which included junior
Julia Rotando (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane) and sophomores
Julianna Beaulieu (Chicopee,MA/Chicopee Comprehensive),
Krissy Geraci (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) and
Kelsey Carter (Shamong, NJ/Seneca) combining for 11 of the 18 second quarter points. Utica led 36-13 at the break. Rotando and the sophomores also dominated the third quarter with
Hannah Stack (Dogleville, NY/Dolgeville), Beaulieu and Geraci coming together for 15 of UC's 19 third quarter points. Keuka's 10 points in the third was the only quarter in which the team scored double digit points. The Pioneers iced the cake with a 10-9 fourth quarter to help put away Keuka 65-32. With its 11th straight win the Pioneers tied the second longest winning streak in program history while the record of 12 games can be tied on Tuesday.
Sydney Przygoda (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) finished as the team lead with 15 points and a share of the team lead with seven rebounds, matched by only
Cora Sawyer's (New London, CT/New London) seven.
Julia Rotando (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane) played a total game finishing with seven points, six rebounds, five steals, two assists and a block. Classmate
Julianna Beaulieu (Chicopee,MA/Chicopee Comprehensive) totaled nine points, the second most on the team, while
Petrina DeMarco (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) ended with eight points. As a team, Utica totaled 15 steals and forced 24 Keuka turnovers which led to 24 points.
Just Keep Winning: After taking down Keuka for its 11th win in a row, Utica tied the second-longest winning streak in program history that was set in the 2008-09 season. The program record is 12 games which was set in 1984-85, the same team that this year's squad passed for most wins to start a season.
Pure Dominance: Sydney Przygoda (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) earned her second Empire 8 Player of the Week honor of the season on Monday after three terrific outings last week. The senior nearly averaged a double-double over three games as she netted 16 points, 9.7 rebounds, 4.3 steals and two assists per game in wins over Hamilton, Elmira and Keuka. On the night she scored her 1,000th career point against Elmira, Przygoda totaled a game high 22 points on 10-for-14 shooting while coming down with another game high 12 rebounds. On the season, Przygoda leads the conference with 17.4 points per game, 60 percent shooting, 11.2 rebounds per game and is top-10 with 3.2 assists per game and 2.5 steals per game.
Ball Don't Lie: Petrina DeMarco (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) has found her rhythm as of late. Over her last four games the senior is 14-for-31 from beyond the arc while averaging nearly 12 points per game. Some timely three-point shots from DeMarco helped lift UC past Hamilton last Monday and against Elmira on Friday the guard could not be stopped as she went 8-for-12 from the field and 5-for-9 from three for 21 points which was the second-highest scoring game of her career.
Depth Getting it Done: While the starting five of
Kristine Miller (Red Hook, NY/Red Hook),
Brigid Johndrow (Bristol, CT/St. Paul Catholic),
Cora Sawyer (New London, CT/New London), Przygoda and DeMarco have been the consistent weapons on the team, Head Coach
Michele Davis has shown the confidence she has in her reserves and for good reason. The likes of
Krissy Geraci (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia),
Julia Rotando (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane),
Julianna Beaulieu (Chicopee,MA/Chicopee Comprehensive),
Kelsey Carter (Shamong, NJ/Seneca) and
Hannah Stack (Dogleville, NY/Dolgeville) combine for 5.12 points per game on 38.5 percent shooting from the floor in an average of 13.7 minutes per game. Away from scoring, the reserves have combined for an average of three rebounds per game while Geraci's 5.2 rebounds per game is fourth on the team.
About Hartwick: The Hawks enter Tuesday 7-3 overall and 2-0 in Empire 8 play after defeating Nazareth and No. 19 St. John Fisher at home this past weekend. What the team's eighth ranked E8 offense lacks in its 58.5 points per game is made up with the team's second ranked conference defense in which it allows 53.9 points per game, trailing only Utica. Maggie Kirby (12.7 PPG) and Giuliana Pritchard (11.6 PPG) lead the charge on the offensive end for the Hawks.
Scouting Fisher: The Cardinals enter the week 10-1 overall and 2-1 in league play after suffering its first loss of the season to Hartwick on Friday. Fisher is second in the conference with a +12.7 scoring margin as they average 68.3 points per game, the second most in the conference, and allow 55.5 points per game. The team crashes the boards well averaging 47.4 rebounds per game. Clair Kruszka is sixth in the E8 netting 13.7 points per game and does so on nearly 40 percent shooting.
A Look at Naz: The Golden Flyers (7-5, 2-1 E8) are coming off of a 70-47 win over Sage on Saturday and will meet with Elmira College prior to hosting UC on Saturday. The team is third in the conference with a +8.4 scoring margin and leads the E8 with a 32.7 field goal percentage. Jadyn Abrams leads the Golden Flyers on offense with 16.3 points per game which is second in the conference.
The Road Ahead: Following this week UC will remain on the road for one game at Sage on January 18 before returning home to host Alfred University on January 21 and Houghton College on January 22.
