UTICA, NY (December 10, 2013) -  The Utica College women's basketball team outscored visiting Union 27-11 in the final 10:22 of action, but the comeback bid fell just short, as visiting Union College escaped with a 58-57 victory to improve to 6-1 overall on the year Tuesday night at the Clark Athletic Center. Utica's Bridget Greenwald (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) had a chance to tie the game after being sent to the free throw line with .5 left in regulation.  Greenwald was able to convert the first of two free throws, but the second came up just short as the Dutchwomen escaped with their fourth consecutive victory. 

Utica leading scorer Mary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) netted 10 of her 17 points in the final 5:11 of the contest to help lead the Pioneer comeback.  UC's record moved to 4-4 overall headed into the Fall semester break.  Junior guard Christy Traglia (Mohawk, NY/Mohawk) netted a season-high 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the floor in the loss.

Union's Kate Thompson netted a team-best 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor, while senior guard Kelsey McDonald added nine points, eight rebounds and eight assists.  Senior guard Amy Loya netted 12 points and grabbed five boards for the Dutchwomen.

Utica led 28-27 with 1:12 left in the first half of play, but that proved to be the Pioneers' final lead of the contest as Union went on a pivotal 17-0 run over the course of the next 7:32 of play to take a commanding 44-28 lead with 13:40 to go in regulation.  Union shot 7-of-12 from the floor in the stretch and held Utica to 0-for-5 shooting.  The Dutchwomen also forced four turnovers in the span and Kate Thompson led the charge with seven points to help the visitors earn the 16 point lead. 

Utica slowly chipped away at the lead over the course of the final ten minutes of action.  Utica went on runs of 8-0 (in less than a minute), two 6-0 runs (each less than two minutes), and it closed with a 7-2 run in the final 3:00 minutes, but the comeback bid fell short as Greenwald barely missed the final free throw with less than a second remaining on the game clock. 

Utica's largest lead of the game was just three points, early on, when it led 22-19 with 6:10 left in the first half.  The Dutchmen used 20 caused turnovers, which converted to 22 points, and the visitor's also hauled in 17 offensive rebounds to maintain the lead. 

The Pioneers held Union to just 33.8% shooting from the floor, including a 20% ledger from behind the arc (5-of-25).  Cailin Schmeer scored six points off the bench for Union, while Brittney Kenney also came off the bench and grabbed eight rebounds to go along with five points.

Utica's Adriana Surprenant (Utica, NY/New York Mills) scored eight points (2-for-2 from 3-point land) in just her third start of the year, while Greenwald chipped in with a game-high 12 rebounds and eight points.  Samantha Stayer (Allegany, NY/Allegany-Limestone) also added seven points and six rebounds for the Pioneers.

Utica's Mary Miceli (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) has led the Pioneers in scoring in four of eight games this season, while Greenwald put forth her seventh double-digit rebounding effort of the year. 

Utica opens up Empire 8 Conference play when they return to the court on January 3 at Stevens Institute of Technology (8 p.m.).  Union also returns after the semester break on January 3 when it begins Liberty League play on the road (game five of a six game road trip) at Rochester Institute of Technology.