UTICA, N.Y. – Russell Sage College advanced in the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament by defeating host Utica 72-56 this evening With the win, the Gators play in the semifinals on Friday, February 25 at top seeded St. John Fisher College. Tip off is set for 5:30 p.m.
The Gators (13-13), seeded fifth, used an impressive second half to pull away from the host Pioneers to move on. RSC held Utica to 20 second-half points and a 20.6% shooting performance. Additionally, Utica was 0-9 from long distance in the third and fourth quarters.
Freshman guard Syrita Faraj (Troy, NY/Tamarac), who was named the E8 Rookie of the Week on Monday, collected a team-best 19 points and 14 rebounds. Faraj, who now has 10 double-doubles, poured in 17 second-half points and secured 11 of her 14 boards after the intermission.
Senior guard Sammy Pasinella (Mechanicville, NY/Mechanicville) tallied 16 points with eight points in each half, while senior forward Kyra Oeffler (Green Island, NY/Heatly) added a double-double as well on 11 points with 10 rebounds, marking her sixth double-double of the season. Pasinella added five assists to go with her pair of three-point baskets.
Senior guard Meghan Murray (Watervliet, NY/Watervliet) netted 15 points as well for the Gators as they also got seven points and five assists from rookie guard Lauren Sanderson (Ravena, NY/RCS).
Trailing 36-32 at the break, RSC was able to overtake Utica, the four seed, at the 5:34 mark with a jumper by Pasinella (41-40) and never looked back as they watched their lead continue to grow over the rest of the second stanza.
The Pioneers (19-7) got a double-double from Brigid Johndrow as she had 15 points with 10 rebounds. . After leading all players with 12 first-half points, Petrina DeMarco, was held off the scoresheet in the second half.
RSC now plays at top-seeded and No. 20 ranked St. John Fisher in Friday's E8 Semifinal. The Empire 8 Semifinals and Final will take place at St. John Fisher February 25-26 with the E8 champion garnering the league's automatic qualifier to the 2022 NCAA Division III Tournament.
Notes: The Gators made are making their second E8 Championship Tournament appearance…Faraj was named the E8 Rookie of the Week on Monday…It marked the fourth time that she took home the accolade this season (Nov. 15, Dec. 6, Feb. 14, Feb. 21)…The rookie has scored 356 points during the campaign, good for 11th in program single-season records...Pasinella, who was named first-team All-Conference last season, equaled a program record with eight made three-pointers on Jan. 18 vs. Utica...She ranks 15th on the all-time scoring list with 774 career points...The guard also ranks sixth with her 118 career three-point baskets, and 14th with 199 career assists...Oeffler sits eighth in program records with 45 career blocks, while Murray ranks 17th with 26...On the regular-season, Utica won both meetings, while RSC took tonight's encounter.
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