PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher College women's basketball team led wire-to-wire on Tuesday night as the Cardinals defeated visiting Utica College, 63-49, on Bobby Wanzer Court inside Manning and Napier Varsity Gymnasium.  With the win, Fisher improved to 11-6 and 5-3 in the Empire 8 while the Pioneers, who have now lost their last nine games, fell to 6-13 overall and 1-9 in the conference standings.

It was all Fisher to begin the game as the Cardinals stormed out to a quick 9-0 lead after knocking down four of their first six shots from the field.  The Pioneers survived the run, however, and climbed back into contention courtesy of a 9-2 burst of their own that made it a three-point game, 12-9 in Fisher's favor.

As the quarter continued, a layup by Olivia Baumann sparked a modest 6-0 run before Utica connected with a 3-pointer to close out the opening frame with Fisher ahead on the scoreboard, 18-12.

The Cardinals continued to push the tempo as the second quarter got underway with five unanswered points to open the stanza including a triple from Miranda Lynch.  Following back-to-back layups from Utica, Fisher would go on to score 10 of the game's next 13 points as the Cardinals opened up their largest lead of the game, 33-19.  Leading by 14 with under four minutes to play in the half, Fisher's pace slowed as the Pioneers worked the ball inside before sinking five free throws in the closing minutes to head into intermission with the home team holding a nine-point cushion, 35-26.

The break did little to cool Fisher's hot start as Erin Hulbert was true from distance before Eckert converted an old-fashioned three-point play to make it a 41-26 advantage in the home team's favor.  The Cardinals would stretch their lead to 18 points with a 7-0 run capped off by a layup from Leah Koonmen as Fisher took a 52-36 cushion into the fourth quarter.

As the final frame began, Utica strung together six unanswered points, but Fisher countered with nine straight points of its own including five points from Hulbert to extend the lead to 19, 61-42.  The Pioneers began to find their stride late in the stanza, but the damage had been done as the Cardinals picked up their fifth win in conference play.

In all 12 different players scored in the win led by Eckert who posted her first-career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 13 rebounds.  Hulbert finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals while Sydney Masna added 10 points on the offensive end of the floor. 

As a team, Fisher was 21-of-59 from the floor and converted 14-of-19 attempts from the free throw stripe.  Head coach Melissa Kuberka's squad hauled in 49 rebounds including 16 on the offensive glass.  Defensively, the team came away with 10 steals on the night.

The Cardinals will look for their second win in as many games at 5:30 p.m. on Friday when they head to Stevens Institute of Technology for a critical Empire 8 bout in Hoboken, N.J.