By: Alfred Athletic Communications
ALFRED, NY – The Alfred University women's basketball team put on an impressive show on Saturday as they hosted a tough Utica College team in an Empire 8 matchup at Terry S. Galanis Family Arena.
The Saxons (5-11, 1-5 Empire 8) were on fire from the perimeter for the entire contest as they finished 16-32 for the game and upended the Pioneers in overtime by a score of 88-82.
Utica came into the game with a 4-2 record in the Empire 8 and an 11-6 overall record.
Both teams had trouble getting onto the scoreboard as missed shots were the story of the first quarter with the period ending with Utica ahead 13-12.
The Saxons began their hot shooting during the second quarter and reeled off six triples in the period to take a 37-25 lead at halftime.
Utica came out strong in the third and cut its deficit to just four points with a little more than five minutes to play in the quarter.
Alfred then got hot again from the perimeter at the end of the quarter and pushed its lead back up to 12 heading into the fourth.
The Pioneers began to heat up in their own right from the three point line during the final 10 minutes and went 6-9 from behind the arc to work its way back into the contest and erase a 16 point deficit with four minutes to play to send the game to overtime.
The Saxons showed that they wanted this one in the overtime period and allowed just five points to Utica to take control and secure the six point victory to break through in the win column in the Empire 8.
"We talk a lot about the difficult losses we've had but I think a win like this, even in overtime is great for the team," Head Coach
Mike Moskowitz said. We talked about leaving it all out on the floor and we made plays when we needed too. We could have panicked in the fourth quarter but our toughness and togetherness during this tough stretch has been huge and I'm really proud for the team."
Bri Hicks (Burlington, VT / Ithaca) had a huge game with 20 points and 10 boards to lead the Saxons.
Rebecca Jewett (Nyack, NY / Nyack) went 4-8 from three point land for a career high 14 points on the day.
Allison O'Toole (Simi Valley, CA / Simi Valley) chipped in 13 points and led the team with six assists.
Gillian Flint (Caledonia, NY / Caledonia-Mumford) scored 10 points and had six boards while
Lyndsey McCoy (Middleburgh, NY / Middleburgh Central), Jamie Wilcox (Forestville, NY / Pine Valley) and
Ana Ion (Bucharest, Romania / Episcopal of Jacksonville) all had nine points.
The Saxons will look to ride the momentum of this huge victory into Tuesday as they host Houghton College at 7:30PM.