Utica, NY (12/7/2012) – The Utica College women's basketball team made "A Game For Brooks Miles" a truly special one as the Pioneers topped visiting Stevens 59-53 and raised over $400 for the Faxton St. Luke's Foundation and the Children's Miracle Network.  The Pioneers were led by a 17 point, 15 rebound effort from senior forward Meghan Fiore (Epping, NH/Epping) and a 12 rebound, 10 point output from junior forward Bridget Greenwald (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills). 

Friday night's double-header was the first annual game in memory of Brooks Miles Rorick, son of Greg Rorick '89 and Angela Rorick, who passed away from a heart condition shortly after he was born on April 1, 2008.  The Rorick's are cousins of Utica Head Coach Michele Davis and the Pioneers wore "A Game for Brooks Miles" warm-up t-shirts in honor of Brooks.  Throughout the contest the Student Athlete Advisory Committee helped staff a 50/50 raffle and a bake sale to raise money, with all proceeds going directly to the Faxton St. Luke's Foundation and the Utica branch of the Children's Miracle Network. 

The Pioneers (4-4, 1-1 Empire 8) jumped out to a quick 11-2 lead in the first 3:14 of the contest behind five points from sophomore point guard Christy Traglia (Mohawk, NY/Mohawk) and a 3-pointer from freshman Mary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle).  The Ducks answered with a quick 7-0 run in just over a minute to cut UC's lead back to two points, 11-9,  with 13:07 left in the first half of play. 

Utica's 18-10 run in the next 10:30 pushed their lead to double-digits, as the Pioneers earned a 29-19 advantage with 2:00 left in the first half of play.  Stevens was able to cut that lead to seven points, 30-23, as the intermission horn sounded.

Stevens opened the second half on a 23-14 run in a span of 9:45 to take their first lead of the contest, 46-44, with 7:55 to go. Christy Traglia (Mohawk, NY/Mohawk) got hot once again, scoring five points in the next 1:18 to put the Pioneers back on top for good.  Traglia finished the day with ten points on 4-of-8 shooting from the floor to help the Pioneers snap a two game skid. Utica outscored the visitors 9-7 in the final 5:25 to earn the six point victory. 

UC did give up 21 offensive rebounds, however the Pioneers average 22 seconds worth of possession time on their scoring opportunities, and they also held the Ducks to just 27.8% shooting from the floor on the afternoon. 

Marissa Kahane (Sayville, NY/Sayville) provided a nice spark off the bench for UC as she tallied six points on 2-of-3 shooting from behind the arc.  Brittany Baudanza (Staten Island, NY/Staten Island Tech) also chipped in with six rebounds and two steals for the Pioneers.  Miceli finished the night with nine points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. 

Dylan Krause led Stevens with 19 points and 16 rebounds and Miranda Ripken added nine rebounds and seven points. 

Utica will now hit the road for two straight games beginning with Union College on Tuesday night at 5 p.m.

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