Fisher Earns First Empire 8 Win with Second Largest Comeback of Season
The St. John Fisher College women’s basketball team overcame an 18-point first-half deficit to defeat the Utica College Pioneers 77-69. Exactly a week after the Cardinals defeated Thiel 71-69 after trailing by 20 points, Fisher was at it again, this time in conference play. With the Empire 8 win, the Cardinals are now 5-7 overall and even their conference record to 1-1.
Portia Velasco gave Fisher its first lead of the game, 57-55, with 12:06 remaining in the second half on a foul line jumper. Velasco scored six-straight points starting with that basket, and Sarah Stefanon stole a ball and converted the fast break layup to give the Cardinals a 63-59 lead. The Pioneers had tied the game at 57, but Fisher would never trail again, using a 13-4 run to make the score 68-59. Meghan Soja again scored a layup with 5:46 left in the game to give Fisher its largest lead of the day, 74-64.
Camaryn Buckner led the Cardinals with 18 points and seven rebounds while Stefanon also grabbed seven boards and added 11 points. Soja finished with 17 points and six caroms.
In the first half the Cardinals got down early with Utica opening with a 9-1 run before taming the Pioneers later in the half to even it a 19-19. Utica then went on a 27-9 run to take a 46-28 lead with 2:53 remaining in the stanza. Fisher then used a run of its own to end the half, holding the Pioneers scoreless for the rest of the half while going scoring eight points to cut the deficit to 10 heading into the locker room. Soja led the Cardinals in the first half with 11 points while Stefanon grabbed a team-high four rebounds, while adding five points.