UTICA, N.Y. -- Senior Brittany Wilson connected on a baseline jumper with two seconds to play in regulation to lift visiting Nazareth to a 57-56 victory in a women's Empire 8 basketball game Friday evening. Seniors
Erica Shaw,
Katie Kollar, and Wilson combined to tally 40 of Nazareth's 57 points.
With the victory, the Golden Flyers improve to 7-3 overall. The Pioneers drop to 5-6 overall following the loss. Friday's contest was the Empire 8 conference opener for each team.
Each team had a second half lead of five points, but neither team was able to put together a scoring run to stretch their advantage. In the opening 2:40 of the period, Nazareth held leads of 36-31 and 38-33. Utica's five-point advantage was with 5:44 to play in the game as the Pioneers stretched their advantage to 51-46.
Nazareth rallied from its five-point deficit after forcing Utica into a turnover on its ensuing possession. Shaw connected on a three-point attempt to trim the Pioneers' lead to two points. Wilson's two-point jumper tied the game with just under four minutes to play in regulation. Wilson's jumper was made possible by a steal by Kollar during Utica's offensive possession.
With 1:34 remaining, the Pioneers stretched their lead to 55-52 following a layup by Megan Fiore. On the Golden Flyers' possession, Kollar answered with a three-point bucket to tie the score at 55 apiece. Fiore connected on one of two free throws to temporarily give Utica a 56-55 lead. After Wilson's shot was blocked by Fiore with 19 seconds remaining, the Pioneers' Marissa Kahane missed the front-end of a one-and-one to provide Wilson with her game-winning shot.
In the first half, Nazareth build a seven-point lead twice, 31-24 and 33-26, however, Utica scored the final five points of the half to cut the Golden Flyers' lead to 33-31 at the break. Nazareth established its initial seven-point lead following an 8-0 scoring run. Kollar ignited the run with three-point basket, which was followed by a three-point play by Shaw, then a two-point basket by Shaw. The teams played much of the first half within a few points of each other. The first 20 minutes featured three ties and eight lead changes prior to Nazareth's scoring run.
Kollar finished with a team-high 14 points, and Wilson and Shaw each tallied 13 points. Five additional players contributed points for the Golden Flyers' offense. Senior Brittany TallChief recorded six points, followed by senior Ashley Gallagher with four points, and senior Danielle Chamberlain with three points. Sophomores Lizabeth Hall and Becca Rumschik added two points apiece. Wilson collected a game-high nine rebounds for Nazareth.
Fiore had a team-high 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds for Utica. Kahane and Katie McGee also finished in double figures with 13 points and 11 points, respectively.
The Golden Flyers resume their Empire 8 schedule at Ithaca on Saturday afternoon. Nazareth returns to the Kidera Gymnasium for a non-conference contest against Maine-Fort Kent on January 10th.