UTICA, NY - The Utica College women's basketball team will look to shake off its weekend losses with a trio of Empire 8 games this week. UC will travel to Sage on Tuesday for a 5:30 p.m. game against the Gators before hosting Alfred University at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Houghton College at 2 p.m. on Saturday. 
 
Follow Along: Sage will provide live video and stats on Tuesday through https://portal.stretchinternet.com/sageathletics/ while Friday and Saturday's games can be followed through https://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/. 
 
Last Time Out: UC suffered its second loss of the season to Nazareth College, 75-51, on Saturday afternoon. The teams were even in the first half as the score was 29-29 entering the break. Cora Sawyer (New London, CT/New London) netted eight first half points for UC while Sydney Przygoda (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) finished the first frame with six points and six boards. As a unit the Pioneers out-shot Nazareth in the first half 42.9 percent (12-28) to 36.4 percent (12-33). Points were hard to come by for the Pioneers in the second half as the Golden Flyers would go on to out-score Utica 46-22 and shot the ball 41 times to UC's 25. Kristine Miller (Red Hook, NY/Red Hook) recorded six of the team's 22 points over the final 20 minutes of the game. Sawyer led the team with 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting. Przygoda filled the box score with nine points, eight rebounds and three steals. Off of the bench, Krissy Geraci (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) added eight points on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting performance and also grabbed five rebounds. 
 
The Adventures of Cora Sawyer (New London, CT/New London): Senior guard Cora Sawyer (New London, CT/New London) has quietly put together a solid season through the team's midway point. On the year she's third on the team putting up 9.6 points per game 38.8 percent shooting while also ranking second with 6.2 boards per game. Sawyer has also been one of the best in the conference in forcing steals with her being ninth in the E8 recording 2.1 steals per game. Last week she averaged just under nine points and nearly six rebounds per game over three games. 
 
Just Geraci: Krissy Geraci (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) has shown why she's an Empire 8 Rookie of the Year candidate and can further help her case this week. The sophomore is 24th in the E8 averaging 8.6 points per game on 47.3 percent shooting in 23 minutes per game. While she's a rebound threat each time the ball is shot, Geraci can also make teams pay shooting the ball. This past week she averaged eight points on10-for-21 shooting and just over six rebounds per game. Her 4-for-4 shooting performance against Nazareth marked the first time in her short career she shot 100 percent from the floor. 
 
About Sage: The Gators (6-7, 2-2 Empire 8) enter the week after defeating Alfred and Houghton this past weekend. The conference's fourth ranked offense is commanded by the trio of Sammy Pasinella (15.4 PPG), Savannah Sommer (13.5 PPG) and Syrita Faraj (13.3 PPG). Sage has averaged 65.2 points per game on 34.9 percent shooting as well as 29.9 percent shooting from three, the second-best mark in the E8. 
 
Scouting Alfred: The Saxons enter the week 6-7 overall and 1-3 in the Empire 8. The team dropped both of its games this weekend to Sage and Hartwick and will also battle St. John Fisher on Tuesday prior to traveling to Utica on Friday. The conference's fifth ranked scoring offense produces 64.9 points per game with a large portion of their points coming from seven players averaging 5-10 points per game. Alfred has struggled with consistent shooting as the team is eighth in the conference shooting 31 percent from the field and last shooting 22.7 from three. 
 
A Look at Houghton: The Highlanders (7-6, 1-3 E8) have lost three out of their last four games and will play Fisher on Friday before taking on UC on Saturday. Houghton has displayed a balanced brand of basketball with the team averaging 60.8 points per game and allowing 60.3 points to opponents. Amanda Jackson leads the squad averaging 12.7 points per game while also having attempted the most three-point shots in the conference (41-120). 
 
Looking Ahead: After Saturday's game the Pioneers will have a week off before hosting Sage on January 29. Tip-off from Miga Court is set for 2 p.m.