Pittsford, NY–Seeded second in the 2020 Empire 8 Championship, Sage came from behind at the half to beat Utica College for the third time this season, 82-75. With the win, the Gators collect their first Empire 8 post-season win and have punched their ticket to the league championship and will face top seeded St. John Fisher College in the finals on February 29 at 4 p.m. With the win, their third of the year over Utica, Sage is now 15-11 overall, while Utica drops to 15-11 as well.
After trailing 34-33 at the break, Sage came from behind after trailing by as many as 11 points in the third quarter (46-35, 5:29) and outscored the Pioneers in the fourth quarter by 10 to seal the win.
Sage's graduate player Megan Flynn (Hoosick Falls, NY/Hoosick Falls Central) added a career-best 28 points and picked up her team-leading 12th double-double of the year after hauling in 17 rebounds. Flynn boasts 19 career double-doubles while adding 865 career points as she is now 13th in career scoring. She is fifth with her 678 career rebounds. Flynn added 17 points in the first half and finished the night making 9-of-14 shots from the floor and 10-of-13 from the line as Sage held a 48-41 edge on the boards over Utica.
Sophomore guard Sammy Pasinella (Troy, NY/Mechanicville) added 13 points with four assists for Sage, while both graduate performer Kaitlyn Bowman (Chateaugay, NY/Saranac) and senior guard Gessica Patregnani (Troy, NY/Lansingburgh) added 13 points apiece for the Gators.
Bowman added eight rebounds with seven assists for Sage. She is eighth on the Sage career scoring list with 1013 points, while also moving into the No. 3 spot in rebounding as Sage with 791 rebounds. She is also fourth in career assists with 309, while now standing tied for the No. 1 spot in games appearances with 108 as she is now tied with Frankie Pearson (2013-2017).
Patregnani now has 718 career points and is 19th on the career scoring list, while boasting 153 career three pointers, which is fourth. She is also now sixth in career appearances with 102.
Utica's senior guard Nicolette Conkin (Los Altos, CA/Homestead) added a game-high 37 points to lead Utica. She made 13-of-32 shots from the floor and was 7-20 from three-point range. She played all 40 minutes for the Pioneers and led them at the break with 20 points.
Second seeded Sage will face tops seeded St. John Fisher College in the 2020 Empire 8 Championship at 4 p.m. on the on the campus of St. John Fisher College. SJFC beat Hartwick College 68-50 to advance to the league championship. The appearance for Sage is their first in the Empire 8 championship.
