UTICA, NY – Senior Samantha Peebles scored a game-high 23 points, surpassing 1,000 for her career, as Nazareth won its third straight game, 59-46, Tuesday night over Utica.  Peebles, who has scored over one-third of her points from 3-point land (339 points), fittingly drilled a 3-pointer in third quarter to hit the milestone.  After scoring 23 points, Peebles now has 1,009 for her career. 

With the win, Nazareth moves to 10-9 overall and 6-4 in Empire 8 play, while the Pioneers drop to 7-12 and 3-7, respectively.

Much as it did four days ago in the previous meeting, Nazareth jumped out to a double-digit lead after the first quarter, including scoring the first 12 points of the game.  Rachel Benedict scored the first seven points of the contest and Nazareth canned three 3-pointers in the quarter to open a 20-7 advantage.  Benedict finished with nine points and 10 rebounds.

The Golden Flyers lead was fifteen, 34-19, at the half.

Utica cut the lead to seven in the third quarter and then eight points 1:03 into the fourth quarter, however, a layup by Isabella Gjonaj put Nazareth's lead back up to double-digits for good shortly after.  Gjonaj contributed six points and six rebounds in the win.

Peebles was 6-for-17, with seven rebounds and two steals.

Delaney Martin pitched in six points of her own, while Elizabeth White led Nazareth with four assists.

Nazareth returns to Kidera Gymnasium on Friday hosting Hartwick at 8 p.m. and Stevens on Saturday at 4 p.m.