UTICA, NY - The Utica University women's basketball team topped Hartwick College 68-62 in an intense overtime battle to collect an Empire 8 victory on Tuesday night.
 
Utica played tremendous defense forcing 11 steals which led to 14 points off turnovers while tacking on 12 fast break points.
 
Vanessa Hall (Whitesville, NY/Whitesville Central) was fantastic, dropping her first career double double scoring 25 points with 10 rebounds, one block, and one steal. McKenzie Simmons (Red Hook, NY/Red Hook) also turned in a fine game dropping 13 points with six rebounds and three steals.
 
Haley Burchhardt (Schenectady, NY/Schalmont) scored 10 points with six rebounds, two assists, and three steals and was effective on both sides of the ball. Krissy Geraci (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) poured in five points with seven rebounds and two blocks and was a force down low.
 
Julia Rotando (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane) had five points with two rebounds, three assists, and three steals and continues to provide lockdown defense for the team.
 
The Pioneers had a fantastic start to the game with a quick 6-0 lead and did not allow Hartwick's first basket until nearly three minutes into the game. A Rotando three-pointer pushed the lead to 9-2 and Utica continued to pour it on offensively and led 15-8 after one quarter of play.
 
The Hawks rallied to cut the Utica advantage to just 17-14 at the 7:04 mark in the second quarter. Yet, the Pioneers turned offense into defense as Rotando nailed a fastbreak layup to put the team up 22-14. The Hawks cut it to just two yet a Simmons triple aided the team in taking a 26-21 edge into the half.
 
Hartwick came out strong cutting the lead to 28-25 in the third quarter yet a five point scoring run by Hall extended the lead to 33-27 at the 6:00 mark. The teams continued to exchange buckets and Hartwick cut it to one trailing 39-38 but a strong Pioneer run put the team up 45-41 at the end of the three quarters.
 
The fourth quarter was wild with Hartwick tying the game 51-51 halfway through the frame with the teams going bucket for bucket down the stretch. The Hawks took a 56-55 lead late yet a clutch McKenzie Simmons (Red Hook, NY/Red Hook) free throw paired with elite defense forced the game into overtime.
 
Utica's energy was tremendous in overtime and clutch buckets by Burchhardt and Hall pushed the lead to 63-58 with under two minutes to play. The Hawks cut the lead to just two yet Hall and Halvarson each were perfect from the line to secure the 68-62 Empire 8 victory for Utica.
 
Utica (5-11, 2-5 Empire 8) will remain home and host Houghton University on Saturday, January 27 at 2 p.m. in its Brooks Miles & Alumnae Game.