UTICA, N.Y. – Seniors Grace Ceseretti and Jelena Perovic scored a team-leading 16 points apiece to lead the Union College women's basketball team to a convincing 74-44 victory over Utica University in the teams' 2025-26 season-opener on Friday evening at the Clark Athletic Center.
 
Perovic started her season with the game's lone double-double, adding a game-high 10 rebounds to her 16 points, which came on 8-of-17 shooting from the field. Ceseretti hit 5-of-9 shots from the field – including 3-of-5 from long range – and all three free throws. Classmate Grace Ardito also reached double figures with 10 points and a team-leading three assists.
 
The visitors opened with a Perovic jumper and a Ceseretti three to take the first lead of the game, and the Garnet Chargers only trailed for 17 seconds on the evening. After Utica took an 11-9 lead, Ardito knotted the score on the next possession and started a period-ending 11-0 run to put Union up 20-11 after 10 minutes. Seven players had at least two points in the first frame, led by Perovic with six.
 
Union went into halftime up 35-22 after a relatively even second stanza, but the Garnet Chargers blitzed Utica by a 29-9 margin in the third to take complete control of the game. The visitors started the period on an 18-0 run over the opening 5:00, hitting 8-of-13 shots and limiting the Pioneers to 0-of-9 shooting. Senior Kate Peek started the run with a layup and ended it with a three-pointer, which put the visitors up 53-22. The lead grew to as many as 33 to end the third after a free throw by sophomore Anna O'Keefe made the score 64-31.
 
A jumper by sophomore Olivia Cunningham with 6:33 to go in the fourth gave the Garnet Chargers their largest lead of the night at 39 points (72-33) before Utica closed on an 11-2 run.
 
Union finished the evening shooting 43.7 percent (31 of 71) from the field and 31.3 percent (5 of 16) from beyond the arc, while holding Utica to just 30.4 percent (17 of 56) shooting from the field and forcing 20 turnovers.
 
Union will return home on Wednesday, when the team kicks off a string of five straight home games with a non-conference matchup against Russell Sage beginning at 5:30 p.m.