UTICA, NY – The Alfred University women’s basketball team was defeated Sunday by Utica, 49-40, in an Empire 8 Conference game.

AU trailed Utica, 23-20, at the half. After two back-to-back layups scored by junior guard Lyndsay Murphy (Almond,NY/Hornell), the Lady Saxons took the lead just one minute into the second half. Alfred was unable to maintain the lead and was outscored, 26-20 after intermission. For the game, Alfred (7-9, 1-6 Empire 8) shot 32 percent and Utica (13-3, 6-1 Empire 8) shot 30 percent.

Murphy finished the game with a team-high 15 points and pulled down a team-high eight rebounds to pace Alfred. Junior guard Courtney Lincoln (Waterloo, NY/Waterloo) added eight points and senior forward Alysha Dias (Rochester, NY/Greece Olympia) chipped in six points.

Katie McGee scored a game-high 17 points for Utica. Jessica Berry netted eight points and had four assists and Meghan Fiore added seven points.

Alfred is in action next on Tuesday, Jan. 26, at 6 p.m. against visiting RIT.