In a rematch of last year’s Empire 8 tournament championship game where Utica College defeated the women’s basketball team 38–37, the Bombers throttled Utica for the third time this season 76–49 to advance to the tournament final.
The Bombers came out looking to put the Pioneers away early — in order to avoid another upset — and did just that. The Blue and Gold held the Pioneers scoreless for more than five minutes to start the game and took and early 10–0 lead.
Utica senior and leading scorer Jessica Berry put the Pioneers on the board and cut the lead to eight but that was the closest Utica would get.
The Bombers lead stretched to 22 points with just less than 10 minutes left in the first half 26–4 and the Blue and Gold went into halftime holding a 38–22 advantage.
In the second half, the Bombers pushed their lead to 35 points on a layup by junior guard Jessica Farley with about 10 minutes left.
Farley led the team in scoring with a career-high 24 points while shooting a 10-of-12 from the floor. Farley also added three assists and four steals.
Also contributing for the Blue and Gold were freshman guard Kathryn Campbell with 15 points and six rebounds, sophomore forward Devin Shea, who shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the field on her way to 12 points and seven rebounds in just 19 minutes. Senior forward Elissa Klie also chipped in with 10 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
The Bombers will face Stevens Institute of Technology in the tournament final, at noon or 1 p.m tomorrow. Stevens ended the Blue and Gold’s 31 game conference regular season win streak on Feb. 19 in the Bombers’ season finale.
