WESTFIELD, MA - The Utica University women's basketball team fell on the road to the Westfield State Owls by a score of 63-53 on Friday evening.
Leading the way for the Pioneers was McKenzie Simmons (Red Hook, NY/Red Hook) who registered a team high 24 points (9-21 FG, 5-11 3PT, 1-3 FT), followed by Vanessa Hall (Independence, NY/Whitesville Central) with 10 points (5-14 FG). Leading the Pioneers' rebounding efforts was freshmen Madison LaDuke (Massena, NY/Massena Central) and Destiny Herring (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle), with LaDuke hauling in a team high 15 rebounds, and Herring a second best 10. The duo managed to also dish out team leading assists, with Herring giving out five, and LaDuke four. Defensively, three Pioneers finished with a pair of steals in Simmons, LaDuke, and Herring, while Hall and Natalie Cornell (Greenwood, NY/Jasper-Troupsburg) each tallied a block.
Hall set the tone early for Utica, going right at Westfield State in the paint. She opened the night with back-to-back buckets inside and added a block on the defensive end as the Pioneers jumped out to a 4–0 lead. After Westfield answered with an 11–0 run, Utica settled back in defensively. A stretch of stops from Hall, Carly Atty (Tribes Hill, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) and the bench group gave the offense time to regroup, and Simmons and Madison Marusic (Herkimer, NY/Herkimer) powered a late surge. Simmons converted a layup and three-point play, then buried a wing three off an Atty kick-out before Marusic beat the horn in transition, trimming the deficit to 13–12 after one.
Utica briefly grabbed the lead to start the second when Destiny Herring (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) cleaned up the glass for a go-ahead putback, capping a 14–2 Pioneer run that carried over from the end of the first quarter. Utica forced multiple empty trips with LaDuke and Herring controlling the defensive glass, but the Pioneers went into halftime trailing 21–16 after a late Owl free-throw trip.
Utica came out of the locker room swinging again. Simmons drilled a quick three to open the third, and buckets from Cornell and LaDuke pulled the Pioneers level at 23–23 and later 27–27 as Utica repeatedly answered Westfield's punches. Hall continued to carve out space inside with multiple finishes, while Herring continued to find passing lanes to help keep the margin manageable heading to the fourth.
In the final quarter, the Pioneers kept battling. Simmons caught fire from deep, knocking down multiple threes and slicing in for late layups off Herring's playmaking to keep Utica within single digits. Jayla Bell (Lyons, NY/Lyons) added a strong take to the rim, and Hall and LaDuke continued to compete on the boards as Utica tried to fuel one more run in transition. Westfield, however, strung together timely threes and free throws down the stretch to keep just enough separation and close out a 63–53 decision.
Utica (1-3, 0-0 Empire 8) will take on the loser of Mitchell/Albright in the Westfield State Tournament consolation tomorrow, Saturday, November 22. Tip off from Westfield, MA is set for 12pm.
