UTICA, NY – The Houghton Highlanders got off to a fast start and never looked back, routing the Utica Pioneers on Friday night, 92-43.
 
The Highlanders scored the first 10 points of the game in less than three minutes, jumping out to a sizable, 22-3, advantage after the first quarter. 
 
While the Pioneers offense improved slightly over the second 10 minutes, Utica had no answers to the Houghton offense, and by the break, the Highlanders led, 43-12.
 
And just when you thought the Highlanders couldn't do anything more offensively, they did.  After an impressive 43-point first half, in which they shot 44 percent from the field, Houghton lit up the scoreboard with 49 second half points, hitting 51 percent of their shots.
 
Leading scorer, Kayla Camacho, who had been held to a pedestrian six points in the first half, came alive in the third quarter, knocking down all three shots she took from beyond the arc, tallying 11 points.
 
With a sizable cushion, Coach Pellegrino turned the game over to his bench in the second half, saving fresh legs for tomorrow's game.  All 11 Highlanders put points on the board, and no player played more than 25 minutes.
 
GAME VITALS
Score: Houghton – 92 | Utica – 43
Records: Houghton: 12-2 (3-2 Empire 8) | Utica: 2-12 (0-5 Empire 8)
Venue: Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium, Utica University| Attendance: 167

NOTABLE STATS
>> Crysta LaCrosse hit 8-of-15 shots, including 5-of-8 from long range, for 21 total points, her second highest total of the season.  She also added six rebounds, five assists and two steals.  She has dished out at least five assists in eight games this season. 
 
>> Camacho finished with 17 points, and now has 924 career points.
 
>> Tabitha DeVries, scored 14 points, collected four steals, and grabbed eight rebounds, seven of which came on the offensive end.  Lilly Bentley added a career-high 12 points, going 5-for-7 from the floor with six rebounds. 
 
>> The Highlanders held Utica leading scorer Vanessa Hall to eight points.  Prior to tonight's contest, Hall had reached double-digits in 10 of her 11 games played this season, and had scored 19 or more in nine of them.
 
UP NEXT
The Highlanders will stay in Utica, travelling to SUNY Poly tomorrow, when they will take on the Wildcats at 2:00 p.m.