Utica, Ithaca, Stevens gain wins Saturday
Utica 64, Nazareth 40
The Utica College women's basketball team won its fourth straight Empire 8 Conference game
Saturday as it defeated Nazareth College, 64-40, at the Clark Athletic Center. The Pioneers were led by
Mary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) and
Samantha Stayer (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) who combined for 31 points and 15 rebounds in the 24 point victory.
Utica evens its overall record at 8-8 while improving to 4-3 in conference play. The Pioneers return to the hardwood
Tuesday when they travel to Oneonta, NY to face the Hartwick Hawks.
After just over four minutes of scoreless play, Naz dropped the game's first bucket, at
15:50, off a jumper from Sam Sorge to earn an early 2-0 lead. UC answered with a 21-5 run over the next 10 minutes of action to take a 21-7 lead at
8:08. The visitors retaliated with a 13-7 strut to close out the half down just eight points, 28-20.
However, that would be as close as Naz would get as the Pioneers rattled off a 36-20 advantage in the second half to close out their third straight win of 20+ points in the competitive Empire 8.
Miceli netted 16 points and pulled down five boards while Stayer tallied a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Senior
Bridget Greenwald (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) worked a game-high 13 boards to go along with six points, two assists, two steals and a block in the victory.
Naz's Lindsey Kelly led the visitors with 16 points and eight rebounds while Sam Sorge chipped in with nine points, four assists and three grabs in the loss.
Nazareth falls to 8-6 overall including a 3-2 mark in Empire 8 play and is back on the court
Tuesday when it hosts Elmira College (
6 p.m.).
Ithaca 62, Hartwick 55
The Ithaca College women's basketball team picked up its fifth consecutive victory and remained perfect in the Empire 8 Conference with a 62-55 road win at Hartwick
on Saturday afternoon. With the win, Ithaca is now 11-3 overall and 5-0 in the Empire 8, while Hartwick falls to 4-11 and 2-4.
The Bombers never trailed in the contest, but it took just over three minutes before either team could get on the board. Sophomore
Ali Ricchiuti ended the scoreless drought on a three-pointer at the
16:58 mark to jump-start her game-high 18 points on the day.
Ricchiuti went 6-for-14 in the game and 4-for-7 from long range to go along with three rebounds and two steals.
After Hartwick answered 22 seconds later, the teams traded threes to make the score 9-5 with
15:31 left. Senior
Ally Mnich and Ricchiuti hit the three-pointers for the Bombers. Ricchiuti then converted a steal that led to a fastbreak layup and drilled another three-pointer nearly six minutes in to give Ithaca a nine-point edge, 14-5.
The Hawks fought back to tie the game up at 14-14 midway through the half, but sophomore
Alex Gilligan ended the run on Ithaca's fifth three-ball early in the game. Hartwick knotted the contest up again at 18-18 with
7:48 left on the clock, but Ithaca would go on a 10-2 run over the next
2:43, which was capped off by another three from Ricchiuti and a pair of free throws by Mnich.
Hartwick responded again with consecutive three-pointers to pull back to within two at 28-26 with just under four minutes left in the half. From there, Ithaca would go on to close out the opening 20 minutes with another short run of 5-2 and took a 33-28 lead into the break.
In the second half, Ithaca held Hartwick to just two points over the first five minutes and went up once again by nine, 40-31, after a jumper from Mnich. Hartwick would cut its deficit to seven points on three different occasions over a four-minute span (
14:41 to 10:41), but could never get any closer than that.
Ithaca built up a double-digit lead by the
8:02 mark in the second half, and went ahead by as many as 16 with just over four minutes to go. The Bombers would hold onto that double-digit cushion until Hartwick hit a three-pointer with six seconds left in regulation to account for the final score.
Mnich finished with seven points, seven rebounds and two steals, while junior
Keri Steele and freshmen
Jordan Beers and
Erin Woop each chipped in six. Seniors
Samantha Klie and
Geena Brady, and freshman
Sage VanAmerongen all contributed four points for the Bombers.
Steele also had two steals, while Klie handed out a team-best four assists with two steals.
Ithaca went 21-for-57 overall in the game, while Hartwick was 20-for-55. Both teams made seven three-points in the showdown, but Ithaca made five more free throws (13 to 8).
Stevens 58, Elmira 41
The Stevens Institute of Technology women's basketball team bounced-back from a Friday night loss on Saturday, beating Elmira College 58-41 in Hoboken.
The win moves Stevens to 6-1 in the Empire 8 Conference and places its overall record to 12-1. The loss dropped Elmira to 6-8 (3-4).
Junior
Kaitlyn Astel led all scorers with 19 in her tenth consecutive double-digit scoring effort. Junior
Miranda Ripken added 11 points and four rebounds while sophomore
Brittany Washington chipped-in with eight points and seven rebounds.
As a team, the Stevens defense held Elmira to just 26 percent shooting from the field, the lowest by an opponent this season.
Elmira grabbed the early lead through the first eight minutes, but a three from Ripken followed by a layup from Washington put the Ducks up four with 11 and a half minutes remaining. Elmira came back to tie the game at 17, but a 6-0 Stevens run put the Ducks back atop with just under five minutes to go.
The Soaring Eagles got one back with a free throw on the ensuing possession, but the Ducks responded with a 9-0 run to close out the half.
Stevens maintained its double-digit lead to start the second before a jumper from Ripken six minutes in brought the lead to 17. Elmira chipped-away to bring the game back to an 11 point deficit, but a 6-0 Stevens run gave the Ducks back the 17 point advance.
Elmira was unable to get closer than 15 the rest of the way as the Ducks cruised to their sixth conference win.