Albany, NY – Sage's women's basketball team hosted the Golden Flyers of Nazareth College on Friday night in a match-up of two of the league's unbeaten teams. The Gators won their fourth straight and improved to 4-0 in Empire 8 play with a 77-67 league win over Nazareth Friday night. The Gators improved to 8-7 overall while the Golden Flyers are 10-4 and 2-1 in league play.
All five starters scored in double figures for the Gators. Sophomore guard Sammy Pasinella (Troy, NY/Mechanicville) led the hosts with 19 points and graduate player Kaitlyn Bowman (Chateaugay, NY/Saranac) scored 15 with a game high of eight assists along with a team leading eight rebounds. Bowman's eight assists were both a career and season high. Junior forward Madasyn Bush (Pottersville, NY/North Warren Central) joined Bowman with the team high eight boards, and Sage got 13 points each from senior Megan Flynn (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) and senior guard Gessica Patregnani (Troy, NY/Lansingburgh). Sage shot 43% for the game and had a 43-38 advantage in rebounding.
Nazareth was led by the double-double of senior forward Rachel Benedict (Brockport, NY/Brockport). She had game highs of 24 points and 13 rebounds, with 10 boards coming on the defensive side. Sophomore forward Jadyn Abrams (Bath, NY/Haverling) scored 21 points, as the two combined for 45 of the 67 points for Naz. The Golden Flyers shot 36% for the game.
Nazareth took a 20-12 lead through the first quarter and led 41-37 at halftime. The Gators held the Golden Flyers to 10 third quarter points and led 55-51 after three.
Sage's Bowman continues to edge closer to her 1,000th career point as she remains 11th on the scoring list with 882. Bowman also has tallied 703 career rebounds, becoming the fourth Gator to record 700 or more rebounds in a career. She has also now handed out 252 assists to move into seventh. Her sister, Megan Bowman, holds the career assist mark with 458 during her career that spanned from 2011-2015. Kaitlyn Bowman has also now played in 97 games at Sage with 94 starts and stays seventh in games played.
Flynn now has 703 career points with 554 rebounds in the 7th spot in rebounding and is now 18th in scoring. She has played in 74 games, which is 26th. Patregani has connected for 640 points and now has 140 career three's, whic ranks fourth all-time.
Sage will be in action on January 18 hosting St. John Fisher College in a 3 p.m. Empire 8 contest, while Nazareth College travels to Utica College for a 4 p.m. E8 game on Saturday.
