St. John Fisher Uses Second Half Control to Knock Off Pioneers
The St. John Fisher College women’s basketball team defeated the Utica Pioneers 66-55 on Friday night, completing the season sweep of the Pioneers, and the team's fifth-straight win.
Fisher continues to play strong in Empire 8 play, improving to 7-3 in the conference and 11-10 overall.
Utica falls to 2-8 and 7-14 on the season.
The Cardinals were able to solidify the win with strong defensive play in the second half, holding Utica to just five points over the first 6:47 of the period.
But with the defense, offensive was created as the Cardinals began to fire on all cylinders midway through the second half.
Sparked by back-to-back three-pointers from Avery Light and Sarah Stefanon, Fisher went on a 13-4 run over four minutes to give the Cardinals their largest lead of the day at 12 points. From there on, the Cardinals were able to control the remainder of the game and sail to victory in their first match-up of a back-to-back Empire 8 weekend.
Soja gave Fisher a three-point lead with a layup at the 1:38 mark of the first half, but Utica scored the last four points of the stanza to head to the locker room with a one-point advantage at 30-29.
Soja led the Cardinals in the half with eight points, while Light entered the game to score her five first-half points in a 1:35 span.
Portia Velasco led the Cardinals with 18 points, while Soja followed with 14 points and 10 rebounds - her fifth double-double of the season.
Stefanon and Light both scored 10 points on the day, just one point shy of both player’s career-high.