UTICA, NY - The Utica College women's basketball team will end its three-game road trip tomorrow while looking to extend its six-game win streak as the team travels to Oneonta, NY to face Hartwick College. Tip-off against the Hawks is set for 5:30 p.m.
 
Follow Along: Live video for Tuesday's game can be found through https://portal.stretchinternet.com/hartwick/ while live stats will be available through https://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/.
 
Last Time Out: Utica's three-game road trip has started off strong as the team came away with two wins versus conference opponents Keuka on Friday and Elmira on Saturday. In the 63-32 win over the Keuka Wolves, Senior Sydney Przygoda (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) led the way with her 10th double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Sophomore Krissy Geraci (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) also added 13 points and 13 rebounds, tallying her third career double-double as a Pioneer. In the 67-65 nail biting win against Elmira, senior guard Cora Sawyer (New London, CT/New London) (17 points, 9 rebounds) hit the game winning jumper with five seconds remaining to help cap off a fourth quarter comeback. Geraci finished the game with 16 points and Pryzgoda added 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Pioneers.
 
Conference Outlook: The Pioneers are currently second in the Empire 8 with an 18-2 (9-2 Empire 8) overall record. The nationally ranked St. John Fisher Cardinals (19-2, 11-1 Empire 8) currently hold the number one spot in the conference, followed by Hartwick College (13-6, 8-3 Empire 8) and Nazareth College (13-7, 8-3 Empire 8). The remaining five teams in the conference are all either .500 or below in the conference and overall. Utica and Fisher are currently the only two teams to have clinched a spot in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament while seeding will be determined over the last five games of the year. 
 
Clutch Cora Sawyer (New London, CT/New London): With seven minutes to play and the Pioneers' win streak on the line against Elmira, UC was down 10 points. After leading an impressive comeback and playing all 40 minutes, Cora Sawyer (New London, CT/New London) took the inbounds pass and created her own look from the opposite elbow and sank the open shot with five seconds left. Utica is 6-0 this season when Sawyer plays 40 or more minutes.
 
All Ball: Utica is currently third in the nation and first in the Empire 8 in fewest personal fouls per game (10.5). While committing the least number of fouls per game, the Pioneers are taking the ball away more than anyone in the conference. UC's 251 steals and 12.55 steals per game average sit them atop the conference in those respective categories. Graduate student Brigid Johndrow's (Bristol, CT/St. Paul Catholic) 57 steals and 2.85 steals per game also lead the Empire 8.
 
Double-Double Machine: Senior Sydney Przygoda (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) has been one of the best players in the Empire 8 this season. After coming off back-to-back double-doubles against Keuka and Elmira, Pryzgoda pushed her conference lead to 11 on the season. Pryzgoda not only leads the Pioneers in multiple statistical categories, but she also leads the conference in field goal percentage (52.2), offensive rebounds per game (4.0) and minutes per game (34.5).
 
ROTW Geraci: Sophomore Krissy Geraci (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) is coming off one of the best weekends in her young Pioneer career. In doing so, Geraci has been named Empire 8 Rookie of the Week, as announced by the conference on Monday. In her previous two games, Geraci made her first career starts for Utica and totaled 29 points and 15 rebounds, including her third career double-double. Geraci is currently fourth on the team in points per game (8.9), and third in rebounds per game (6.2) and field goal percentage (45.3) as she continues to make her case for E8 Rookie of the Year.
 
About Hartwick: The Hawks are currently third in the Empire 8 and are coming off an 86-72 win over Nazareth College. Hartwick is led by senior guard Maggie Kirby (12.8 points per game) and senior forward Giuliana Pritchard (12.1 points per game). Utica is currently riding a three-game win streak against the Hawks. The last time the two teams played was on Jan. 11, 2022, where Utica erased a 15-point deficit as it defeated Hartwick College 62-56 to improve to 12-0 at the time which tied the longest winning streak in program history. 

Looking Ahead: After this three-game road trip is complete for Utica, the team will be back at home on Friday to take on Nazareth College. Tip-off from Miga Court will be at 5:30 p.m.