UTICA, NY - The Utica College women's basketball team is set to finish non-conference action and begin league play this week with three home games. UC will host Hamilton College on Monday at 4 p.m. in search of a program record ninth straight win to begin the season. The Pioneers will then welcome Elmira College to Miga Court on Friday at 5:30 p.m. in its first Empire 8 game of the season before hosting Keuka College at 2 p.m. on Saturday. 
 
Follow Along: Fans can watch live and/or keep up with live stats for each of Utica's three games this week through https://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/. 
 
Last Time Out: Backed by Brigid Johndrow's (Bristol, CT/St. Paul Catholic) triple-double and Sydney Przygoda's (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) career-high 35 points, the Utica College women's basketball team defeated the Morrisville State Mustangs 90-82 on December 11 to match a program-best 8-0 start. After the Pioneers jumped out to a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter, the Mustangs eventually took an 18-17 lead, its first of the day, with 1:40 remaining in the frame. A Przygoda layup with just over 30 seconds left gave UC a 22-20 lead however, Brooke Hammersley nailed a three for Morrisville right after that gave them a 23-22 lead entering the second quarter. The Pioneers established some more offensive rhythm in the second, out-scoring the Mustangs 27-21 en route to a 49-44 halftime lead. With Utica up 63-52 midway through the third quarter, Morrisville went on a 13-2 run to close the period to make it a 65-65 game heading into the final 10 minutes. In the fourth, UC held the Mustangs to 17 points, their lowest scoring quarter of the game, while the Pioneers were clutch from the free throw line, going 12-15 from the charity stripe to help widen the scoring gap and eventually ice the game. Johndrow finished the game with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists while also going 9-for-11 from the free throw line. Przygoda led the team with a career-high 35 points (16-22 FG) as well as with 11 rebounds. Krissy Geraci (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) also added 12 points and seven rebounds in 37 minutes off of the bench. 
 
Seeking History: With a win over Hamilton on Monday, Utica would set a program record with a 9-0 start to begin the season. The 1984-85 team previously held the record and finished that year 22-4 with notable wins over Army, Colgate, Canisius, LeMoyne, Niagara and two against St. Bonaventure. 
 
Smooth Sailing: At 8-0 the Pioneers are one of 15 remaining undefeated teams in Division III and have done so without many close calls. The team's average margin of victory ranks sixth in the country as UC has defeated teams by an average of 32.3 points. Aside from a three-point overtime win against SUNY Oneonta and an eight-point win at Morrisville State, Utica has beaten every other team by at least 16 points. It's 80.5 points per game is the 14th most in the nation while the team's 48.2 points allowed per game is ninth in DIII. The Pioneers' 51.7 rebounds per game is the third most in the country while also leading all of Division III with an 18.1 rebound margin. 
 
Eyes on 1K: Sydney Przygoda (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) enters the week 24 points away from 1,000 in her career while also inching closer to entering the top-10 in points in program history. A double-double machine, the senior leads the conference with 11.8 rebounds per game, which also ranks her 28th in DIII, and is second averaging 17.9 points per game. Her 57.3 percent shooting also tops the Empire 8 and is the 14th highest percentage in the country. 
 
Keep 'Em Coming: Brigid Johndrow (Bristol, CT/St. Paul Catholic) and Krissy Geraci (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) have racked up conference weekly honors over the past month, Johndrow receiving two player of the week honors in back-to-back weeks and Geraci being named rookie of the week in two out of three weeks. Both of them are within the top-25 in the conference in points per game and rebounds per game while Johndrow leads the E8 with 6.3 assists per game, also the fifth best mark in the country, a 2.8 assist/turnover ratio, and 3.5 steals per game which is also tied for the 21st most per game in DIII. 
 
About Hamilton: The Continentals will step onto Miga Court 6-3 overall this season while in the midst of a four-game winning streak. The team has averaged 64.4 points per game on 37.4 percent shooting from the floor while holding opponents to 54.6 points per game on 32.7 percent shooting. Hamilton is also tied for 46th in Division III forcing nearly 24 turnovers per game which has helped lead to 18 points per game off of turnovers. Kelcie Zarle has had an impressive season thus far for the Continentals as she is 11th in the country averaging 21.9 points per game. 
 
Scouting Elmira: The Soaring Eagles (5-3, 0-0 Empire 8) have lost three straight after a five-game winning streak to open this season and will host Keuka College in their first Empire 8 contest of the season on Tuesday. Elmira has averaged 62 points per game this year however, the team has done so on just 35 percent shooting from the field and 22.3 percent from three-point range. The team has also been prone to giving opponents extra possessions with its average of 22 turnovers per game. The Soaring Eagles will look for leading scorers Alyssa Waters (15.7 PPG), Desiree Roy (13.3 PPG) and Taylor Albrecht (11.1 PPG) to match Utica's prolific scoring attack. 
 
A Look at Keuka: The Wolves are currently 1-7 overall and will take on Elmira College on the road and Alfred University at home before traveling to Utica on Saturday. Keuka has struggled mightily on the defensive end of the court as opponents have put up over 83 points per game on 42.7 percent shooting. Senior Amelia Poole leads the team with 13.8 points per game while Lauren Hill is second averaging 10.5 points as well as the team leader with eight rebounds per game. 

Up Next: UC will remain home on January 11 when the team hosts Hartwick College at 5:30 p.m. The Pioneers are then set to play a pair of games in Rochester, NY against St. John Fisher on January 14 at 5:30 and Nazareth College on January 15 at 2 p.m.