Matt Zitt

The Lady Pioneers dropped a pair of games on Jan. 27 and 28 against Hartwick College and Stevens Institute of Technology, respectively at the Harold T. Clark Athletic Center.

The Pioneers got off to a slow start on Friday night as Hartwick jumped out to an early 9-0 lead and never looked back. Half way through the first half, the Hawks held a 21-3 lead until junior forward Meghan Fiore drove to the hoop for a layup.

Fiore led all UC scorers with 13 points and netted her 1,000th career point in the second half of Friday night’s contest. She became the tenth player in the programs history to accomplish this feat.

“Meghan has meant so much to this program,” senior forward Justine Karst said. “Reaching 1,000 points is a great accomplishment. She’s a great player and a lot of the younger players look up to her. She has definitely helped establish the girl’s basketball program in a positive direction.”

The Utica offense picked it up in the second half as they scored 32 of their 46 points. However, the Hawks were too much to handle as they took the game 68-46.

Sophomore guard Alyssa Filkins was 3-9 from downtown and recorded 12 points and senior guard Katie McGee added seven points.

The Pioneers comeback fell short in Saturday’s game against Stevens Institute of Technology as they were defeated 56-49.

The game was back and forth to start the contest as a jumper by sophomore forward Bridget Greenwald tied the game at eight a piece with 11:41 left in the first half.

Stevens scored the next nine points to take a 17-8 lead. The Pioneers would battle back before halftime as freshman guard Marissa Kahane drained a three with 56 seconds left cutting the deficit to 23-18.

With UC down seven at half, the Ducks got back to back layups from senior forward Jillian Barrett and sophomore forward Avis Benjamin to increase the lead.

The Lady Pioneers showed a lot of heart in the second half as they pulled within three points after trailing 34-20. McGee hit a jumper for two of her 10 points to cut the lead 40-37 with 8:34 left in the game.

That was the closest the Pioneers would get as the Ducks closed the game out and won 56-49. Fiore led the team with 18 points and Kahane added eight.

UC dropped to 7-13 overall and 2-7 in Empire 8 play. The Lady Pioneers are back in action Friday, Feb. 3 as they head to St. John Fisher College. Tipoff is at 6 p.m.