Albany, NY---The Sage College's women's basketball team hosted the Pioneers of Utica College on Saturday afternoon in the Neff Center in a non-conference game. Utica tallied a 79-55 victory to improve to 2-0, while Sage falls to 0-2.
The contest was back and forth in the first half as Utica jumped out to an early lead before Sage tied the action at 8-8 and went on a run to take a 15-8 lead, before the Pioneers took an 18-15 with 11:00 left in the first half. The Pioneers never looked back and took a 44-22 lead into the locker room.
For the Pioneers, senior Meghan Fiore (Epping, NH/Epping) led all players with her 15 points after making 6-of-11 shots from the floor. Utica had four players finish in double-digits scoring figures on the afternoon as sophomore forward Samantha Stayer (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) had 12 points and rookie guard Mary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) had 11 points off the bench. Junior guard Alyssa Filkins (Castleton, NY/Maple Hill) finished with 10 points, including a pair of three-point baskets.
For the game, Utica shot 44.4% from the floor and made six three-point baskets, while Sage hit five three-pointers and made 100% of their free throws (8-8).
Pacing the Gators on the afternoon was sophomore forward Amie Jefferson (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) as she had 13 points and hit 6-of-11 of her field goals in the action. She was joined in double-digit scoring by senior Carly Vallee (East Greenbush, NY/Catholic Central) as she netted 10 points and had two-three points.
Junior guard Erica Houle (Latham, NY/Shaker) finished with a Gator high of eight rebounds, while senior Laurel Jicha (Hannibal, NY/Hannibal) and freshman Sara Tironi (Cambridge, NY/Cambridge Central) each hauled down five boards for Sage.
Sage returns to action on November 20 travelling to nearby RPI for a 6 p.m. non-conference game. Utica College hosts Oneonta State on November 26 at 7 p.m.
