St. John Fisher Women's Basketball Wins At Home On Senior Day
Senior Colleen Maloney scored 20 of her 29 points in the second half, as St. John Fisher College defeated Utica College 82-79 in an Empire 8 Conference women’s basketball matchup at Fisher’s Bobby Wanzer Court on Saturday.
With the win, Fisher improves to 14-10 overall and 11-4 Empire 8, while Utica falls to 12-9, 8-4.
Fisher, playing in its final home game of the regular-season, never trailed in the contest. The Cardinals started the game shooting 5-for-6 from the floor, and shot 56.7% (17-for-30) from the field for the first 20 minutes to take a 40-33 lead at intermission.
The Cardinals kept a small advantage throughout most of the second half. The Pioneers tied the game up at 49-49 with 13:11 left on a pair of free throws from Jessica Berry.
Nearly three minutes later, Berry banked in a short jumper from right side to make it 59-56. The field goal gave the senior 2,001 points for her career. She is just the 11th player in NCAA Division III to have 2,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career.
With the Cardinals up 63-60 with 7:46 left, Fisher went on a 9-0 run, thanks to three consecutive possessions with 3-pointers: one from Maloney, one from Bonny Gardner and one from Amanda Lax, making it 72-60 with 6:09 remaining.
The Pioneers, however, answered with a 10-1 run and made it 73-70 with just under three minutes left.
Fisher sealed the game at the foul line, going 7-for-8 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes, including two free Meghan Soja with 18 seconds left, making it 80-75. Utica’s Devon Croll made three free throws with two seconds left, but the Cardinals were able to inbound the ball and run out the clock.
For Fisher, Maloney finished with 29 points, tying her career-high. She also added seven rebounds, five blocks and three steals, while Soja netted 17 points. Lax totaled 14 points, while Stephanie Sweeney dished out six assists.
Freshman Camaryn Buckner chipped in with eight rebounds, seven points, five assists and three blocks.
For Utica, Berry finished with 29 points and 13 rebounds, while Meghan Fiore collected 21 points and 12 rebounds. Croll scored 17, including nine in the first half.