By: Utica College Athletics
UTICA, NY -- The Utica College women's basketball team recorded its second Empire 8 Conference win in a road matchup with Hartwick on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers are now 9-5 on the season, 2-1 in conference play.
Despite finding themselves trailing with two minutes remaining in the opening quarter, the Pioneers were able to go on a 9-0 run to gain the lead. Three athletes posted layups in the run, which was capped off by a Petrina DeMarco trey to lead 25-21 after the opening 10 minutes.
DeMarco came up big again in the second stanza as she was able to close it out with a pair of made threes, finishing the first half 4-for-6 from beyond the arc to help the visitors to lead 43-30 heading into halftime.
The Hawks worked to get back within striking distance in the third period of play, able to cut its deficit to single digits on a pair of runs, broken up by a Sydney Przygoda layup at 7:25. Senior Nicolette Conkin did her part to end the hot streak by the hosts, ending their second run with a made three-pointer halfway through the quarter. UC owned a 51-47 lead heading into the final stanza.
After weathering the Hartwick storm in the previous quarter, being outscored 17-8, Utica was able to hold strong in the last 10 minutes, not allowing any significant runs to maintain a 5-plus lead through the remainder of the contest. Brigid Johndrow was big in the stop, owning the final six points of the game on four free throws and a layup.
Leading the squad in scoring was Przygoda with her double-double, accumulating a team-best 19 points and 19 assists. The sophomore also added one steal and one assist to the stat sheet.
Conkin was close behind in the point count, contributing 17 points after collecting four points in the process. She also had a team-best three steals, adding three rebounds as well.
The pairing of DeMarco and Johndrow both recorded 12 points. The former was a team-best 4-for-7 from beyond the arc while grabbing six rebounds, with the latter gathering four rebounds and two steals.
UC returns to action at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, hosting the St. John FIsher Cardinals in another Empire 8 contest.