Albany, NY–The Gators of The Sage Colleges collected an 80-65 home win on Saturday night to secure the No. 2 seed as they beat Utica College in Kahl Gym. With the win, Sage improves to 14-11 overall with a 10-4 record in the Empire 8. Utica drops to 15-10 overall with an 8-6 E8 record earning the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Empire 8 women's basketball playoffs.

After playing to a 40-40 tie at the break, Sage was able to take charge in the fourth quarter and defeat the Pioneers.

Sage's graduate performer, Kaitlyn Bowman (Chateaugay, NY/Saranac) scored her 1,000^th career point in the contest. She added 11 points in the first half putting her at 999 career points and added a pair of free throws in the third quarter for her 1,000^th point giving Sage a 53-51 lead with 3:28 left in the quarter. She becomes the eighth Sage women's player to score 1,000 career points as she now has 1,001. She joins her sister, Megan Bowman (2011-2015, 1080 points) as the school's only sister tandem with 1000 points. She finished the night with 13 points for the Gators and added seven rebounds with seven assists. Bowman also is now fourth in career rebounding as Sage with 783, while adding 302 career assists which is fourth best. With her appearance on Saturday, she also made her 107^th appearance and is second all-time behind 108 games played by Frankie Pearson (2013-2017).

Graduate player, Megan Flynn (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) added 15 points with 10 rebounds for her team leading 11^th double-double of the year. Flynn boasts 18 career double-doubles while adding 837 career points as she is now 13^th in career scoring. She is now fifth with her 661 career rebounds.

Sophomore guard Sammy Pasinella (Troy, NY/Mechanicville) led the Gators with her 16 points, while junior forward Madasyn Bush (Pottersville, NY/North Warren Central) posted 13 points with eight rebounds for Sage in the action.

Senior guard Gessica Patregnani (Troy, NY/Lansingburgh) added 15 points for Sage, while adding the three pointers. She is now 19^th on the career scoring list with her 706 points, while boasting 151 career three pointers, which is fourth. She is also now tied for 6^th in career appearances with 101.

Utica's senior guard Nicolette Conkin (Los Altos, CA/Homestead) added 18 points with 11 assists, while sophomore forward Sydney Przygoda (Freehold, NJ/Freehold) had a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

Sage and Utica will meet again in the 2020 Empire 8 Semifinals on Friday, February 28 at 7:30 p.m. on the campus of St. John Fisher College. The semifinal winners meet Saturday at 4 p.m. on February 29 with the league's automatic qualifier on the line.