PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Plattsburgh State women's basketball team remains undefeated on the road with a win against Utica University. The balanced offensive effort for the Cardinals was led by Imani Walcott (Albany, N.Y. / Albany) who tied her career high with 17 points and added six rebounds. 
 
Five Cardinals registered double-figure scoring as Walcott led the way and the others included Julia Greek (Long Island, N.Y. / Ward Melville), Payton Couture (Redford, N.Y. / Saranac), Mya Smith (Wappingers Falls, N.Y. / Roy C. Ketcham), and Bri Brousseau (Peru, N.Y. / Peru). First-year guard Greek was right behind Walcott as she posted 15 points. Couture added 14 points to go along with her 14 rebounds as she posted her first double-double of the season and tied her career high in rebounds. Couture was one assist away from a triple-double as she set a new career high for assists with nine. Smith and Brousseau contributed with 12 points and 10 points respectively. Kathy Peterson-Ross (Lake Forest, Ill. / Lake Forest) also impacted the game as she had seven rebounds and six assists. 
 
For the Pioneers, Vanessa Hall led all scorers as she had 27 points to go along with eight rebounds. Kieara Kirvan added to the offensive effort as she had 11 points to go with six rebounds. 
 
Plattsburgh shot an efficient 45.55% from the field and an astounding 52.6% from three compared to Utica who shot a solid 41.0% from the field and only 21.1% from three. The turnover battle was equal as both teams registered 19 turnovers, but Plattsburgh had the slight edge for points off turnovers 24-23. 
 
Plattsburgh rises to 3-2 and will be back in action Friday, Dec. 1 as they travel to Cortland to take on SUNY Cortland at 5:30 pm in their first SUNYAC conference game of the season. Utica falls to 1-5 and will be back in action Saturday, Dec. 2 against Houghton University at 2 pm in their first Empire 8 Conference game of the season. 

The Pioneers got on the board first with a layup from Hall. The Cardinals responded with a three from Couture that made the score 3-2 Cardinals. Cardinals followed that three with another from Greek. Halfway through the first quarter, the Cardinals increased their lead to six on a layup from Walcott that made the score 10-4 Cardinals. The Pioneers kept the game within reach for the majority of the first quarter with five points from Hall, but the Cardinals pulled away after a three from Greek that ended the first quarter 21-10. 
 
The Pioneers outscored the Cardinals in the second quarter as they were led by Hall who had eight of their 19 points to mount a comeback from a double-digit deficit. Greek opened the quarter with a three that extended the Cardinals' lead to 14 and made the score 24-10. Hayleigh Lagase got the Pioneers on the board on a layup with a little over seven minutes to play and made the score 24-12 Cardinals. Hall followed that up with six straight points that made the score 24-18 Cardinals. Couture ended that run for the Pioneers with a jumper that made the score 26-18 Cardinals. The rest of the quarter saw the Pioneers outscore the Cardinals 11-7 which made the score 33-29 Cardinals at halftime.
 
The third quarter began with a layup by Hall that cut the lead to two for the Cardinals and made the score 33-31. The Cardinals scored back-to-back buckets as Peterson-Ross made a three and Walcott a layup that made the score 38-31 Cardinals with less than nine minutes to play. Two was the closest the Pioneers got in the third as the Cardinals went on a 14-2 run from the 2:31 mark until the end of the quarter that made the score 58-41 Cardinals. 
 
Ella Franklin (Poolesville, Md. / Poolesville) scored her first collegiate points as she opened the fourth quarter with a layup that made the score 60-41 Cardinals. Hall responded shortly after with a layup of her own that made the score 60-43 Cardinals. With under seven minutes to play Couture made a jumper that gave the Cardinals their largest lead of the game (22). McKenzie Simmons made a three shortly after that and made the score 71-52 Cardinals. A little over four minutes to play both teams exchanged buckets as Brousseau made a layup and Hall responded with one of her own that made the score 73-56 Cardinals. To close the game the Cardinals got points from Smith, Lauren LaFountain (Saratoga Springs, N.Y. / Saratoga Springs), Felicia Caarls (Östersund, Sweden / Jämtlands Gymnasium Wargentin) which was her first collegiate point, and Franklin that made the final score 80-64 Cardinals.