UTICA, NY – Half of Hartwick's field goals were of the three-point variety on Friday night as the Hawks defeated host Utica 72-58 at Harold T. Clark Gymnasium. 'Wick shot 54.2% (13-for-24) from outside the three-point arc and only 13-for-28 (46%) inside of it on the night en route to its sixth straight win.
            The Hawks improve to 14-3 overall and 7-0 in the Empire 8. They are the last remaining unbeaten team in the league. Utica falls to 5-11 and 0-7 in the conference.
            The Hartwick bench, led by Kait Veit (Easthampton, MA/Holyoke Catholic), was another key to the victory as it contributed 25 points on the night. Veit tallied 17 of those points while torching the nets with a 5-of-7 (71%) shooting performance from three-point range.
            Veit made four three-pointers in the second half, all coming in a critical five-minute span to turn a three-point Hartwick lead into a 14-point edge. Her first of the half put her over the century mark for career treys at Hartwick. Only three other players have accomplished the feat.
            Maria Foglia (Rensselaer, NY/Catholic Central) and Brittney Dumas (Easton, CT/Joel Barlow) combined for 37 points, 14 rebounds, and six three-pointers for the Hawks. Foglia scored a game-high 19 points, hit four shots from downtown, and grabbed four rebounds. Dumas scored 18 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.
            The two teams shot exactly 50% in the first half in a back and forth opening 20 minutes. In the second half, 'Wick again shot 50% as a group but it limited the Pioneers to just 8-of-31 shooting (25.8%).
             In the opening four minutes of the game, Hartwick tied the score at 2-2 and again at 7-7 on Dumas jumpers, but UC would gain the upper hand with 15:23 left in the half and not relinquish it for the next 13 minutes.

            A Foglia three-pointer with just over 11 minutes left narrowed the gap to one point, 14-13, but the Pioneers outscored the Hawks 9-4 over the next three and a half minutes to open of their biggest margin of the night, 23-17, at 7:41.
            On four occasions over the next three minutes, Utica built leads of four points or more but the Hawks answered each time. With under five minutes remaining, Kate Purcell (Buffalo, NY/Mt. Mercy Academy) hit a three to trim the UC lead to one, and Veit gave the Hawks their first lead, 31-29, less than two minutes later on her first of five triples in the contest.
            Foglia netted Hartwick's next five points and the Hawks led by as many as six, but the Pioneers cut the margin to two before halftime, 36-34.
            'Wick would make 12-of-24 from the floor and 8-of-14 from three-point range. The Pioneers sank 13-of-26 shots and 3-of-9 from deep.
            The game continued to be close in the opening six minutes of the second half with two ties and two lead changes. With the score knotted at 45-all, both teams had opportunities to snap the tie over a two-minute span. Dumas finally put the Hawks in front with a layup at 11:40 and they never trailed again.
            Utica kept it close but a crucial Hartwick spurt with under seven minutes left would extend the Hawks' advantage. Leading by just three, Veit nailed a three-pointer and after two defensive stops, Taylor Vonasek (Willington, CT/E.O. Smith) dropped in a layup to push the lead to eight. The Pioneers came away empty on the offensive end and Veit made them pay with another three for a 60-49 lead.
            Veit made the Hartwick lead 11 again with under four minutes left with a jumper, but her pair of treys 47 seconds apart with roughly two and a half minutes to go put the Hawks up 14 points, 68-54, essentially putting the game on ice.
            Alicia Razanousky (Stuyvesant, NY/Ichabod Crane) would contribute five points off the bench with Vonasek adding five for the Hawks. Purcell finished the game with team-highs of four assists and three steals and Jacqui Foreman (Tolland, CT/Tolland) tallied four points and four boards.
            Traglia paced three Pioneers in double figures with 14 points. Mary Miceli scored 12 points and Samantha Stayer 10.
            'Wick travels to Ithaca to face the Bombers in a key conference tilt tomorrow evening at 4 p.m. The Hawks won the first meeting between the two programs 63-60 at Lambros Arena on January 3.