Women's Basketball | 2/25/2020 10:18:58 AM
St. John Fisher College, The Sage Colleges, Utica College and Hartwick College will vie for the 2020 Empire 8 Women’s Basketball Championship, which takes place on Friday, Feb. 28 and Saturday, Feb. 29, with all games played at Manning-Napier Varsity Gym on the campus of St. John Fisher. Top-seed St. John Fisher will host No. 4 seed Hartwick in the first semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Friday, while No. 2 seed Sage takes on third-seeded Utica in the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. The two semifinal winners will meet for the 2020 Empire 8 Championship on Saturday at 4 p.m.
The league champion receives an automatic berth into the 2020 NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Championship, which begins on March 6-7.
Participating Teams
No. 1 St. John Fisher College (12-2 E8, 19-6 Overall)
No. 2 The Sage Colleges (10-4 E8, 14-11 Overall)
No. 3 Utica College (8-6 E8, 15-10 Overall)
No. 4 Hartwick College (8-6 E8, 14-11 Overall)
SEMIFINAL #1 – No. 4 Hartwick at No. 1 St. John Fisher
Top-seeded St. John Fisher enters the Empire 8 Tournament having won six straight contests. The Cardinals are 19-6 overall and went 12-2 in league play. St. John Fisher ended the regular season by defeating Nazareth, 77-64 on Feb. 22. The Cardinals were the highest scoring team (71.6 points per game) and stingiest defensive unit (56.2 points per game) in league play this season. Ella Eckert leads the Cardinals in scoring and is fourth among all E8 players, averaging 14.6 points per game. She is also fifth with 8.5 boards per contest and fifth, shooting 46.9 percent from the floor. Miranda Lynch is second on the team in scoring, averaging 12.1 points per game, while Julia Mertsock is averaging 10.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 47.9 percent.
Hartwick, the defending Empire 8 Champions, ended the regular season by winning three of its last four games, finishing in a three-way tie for third in the league standings with an 8-6 mark. Hartwick, who enters the tournament with a 14-11 overall record, earned the fourth seed by virtue of winning the tiebreaker over Nazareth. The Hawks allowed the second fewest points in league play (59.2 points per game). Maggie Kirby leads the team in scoring and is sixth in the conference, averaging 13.8 points per game. Giuliana Pritchard is right behind with 12.5 points per contest, is fourth in the league, averaging 9.0 boards per game and second with 1.3 blocked shots per contest. Mary Schoenherr averages 11.4 points, 7.7 boards and 3.2 assists per game this season.
St. John Fisher won both regular season meetings between the two schools in 2019-20, 62-54 at home on Jan. 25 and 73-69 at Hartwick on Feb. 8. Eckert had 16 points and 10 rebounds in the win on Jan. 25 and added 24 points and eight boards in the win two weeks later. Mary Schoenherr had 23 points for Hartwick in the Feb. 8 defeat. With the game tied at 68-68 on Feb. 8, St. John Fisher’s Leah Koonmen hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with five seconds remaining in the second half.
SEMIFINAL #2 – No. 3 Utica vs. No. 2 Sage
Sage enters the tournament with a 14-11 overall record, having finished 10-4 in Empire 8 play. The Gators enter the tournament having won four of its last five games, including an 80-65 victory over semifinal opponent Utica to end the regular season on Feb. 22. The Gators have a balanced offensive attack, with five players averaging at least 9.0 points per game and three in double figures. Megan Flynn is one of three E8 student-athletes to average a double-double on the season with 13.0 points and 10.8 rebounds per game (third in the league). She is also third, shooting 51.3 percent from the floor. Kaitlyn Bowman is averaging 11.8 points, 8.2 boards and 4.9 assists per game. She is second in the league in assists. Sammy Pasinella has a team-best 13.1 points per game, while Gessica Patregnani is shooting 49.4 percent from 3-point range.
No. 3 seed Utica enters the tournament with a 15-10 overall record and an 8-6 mark in league play. The Pioneers boast two of the three highest scorers in the league in Sydney Przygoda and Nicolette Conkin. Przygoda leads the league in scoring (18.7 points per game), field goal percentage (56.8 percent) and is second in rebounding (10.9 per game). She is in the top-15 in shooting percentage nationally and has 13 double-doubles in 2019-20. Conkin is third in the league in scoring, averaging 17.4 points per game and leads all Empire 8 players, dishing out 7.0 assists per contest and recording 3.4 steals per game. Conkin is second nationally in assists per game and in the top-20 in steals per contest. Petrina DeMarco averages 11.1 points per game, while Brigid Johndrow averages 9.4 points, 4.8 boards and 3.8 assists per game.
The Gators and Pioneers will meet for the third time this season and second time in six days. Sage won both previous meetings, 71-66 at Utica on Jan. 5 and 80-65 on its home floor on Feb. 22. Flynn had 24 points and 17 boards in the win for Sage on Jan. 5, while all five starters scored in double figures during the second meeting. Flynn added 15 points, 10 boards, three assists and three steals. Conkin averaged 22.5 points, 9.5 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 steals per game in the two meetings for Utica.
St. John Fisher is looking for its fifth league championship and first since 2014-15. Utica has won a pair of league titles, most recently in 2019-10, while Sage is looking for its first E8 title. Hartwick is the defending Empire 8 Champion and is looking for its second league crown.
This weekend's championship schedule is below. For the most up to date information on this year's championship, follow the Empire 8 Conference on Twitter (@Empire8).
2020 Empire 8 Women's Basketball Championship Schedule
Friday, February 28 – Semifinals at St. John Fisher
No. 4 Hartwick at No. 1 St. John Fisher – 5:30 p.m.
No. 3 Utica vs. No. 2 Sage – 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, February 29 - Championship at St. John Fisher
Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 – 4 p.m.
Admission
$6.00 - Adults
$4.00 - Students and seniors with ID
Free - Children under 12
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com.
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