LAKELAND, FLA.—SUNY Oneonta senior Samantha Szkotak (New York Mills/New York Mills) scored a game high 17 points in leading the women's basketball team to a 62-59 victory over Gwynedd-Mercy College to open 2012.  Szkotak's first basket of the second half, which happened to be a three-point basket, also put her over the 1,000 point mark for her career.  She is the sixth women to surpass the mark and the first since Milford, N.Y. native Shannon Weir passed it in 2009.  Szkotak reached 1,000 points in her 91st game, making her the fourth fastest to reach the mark all time.  Szkotak currently stands at 1,009 points in the sixth spot, just 20 points away from Kristin Lemon, who stands at No. 5 with 1,029 points.  Hall of Famer, Sheryl Ferguson, is at the top of the list with 1,449 career points.

The game was close throughout with a total of 10 ties and the largest lead by either team was seven points, which was reached by both squads.  Gwynedd-Mercy (5-6) gained its seven-point lead at 43-36 with 11:12 remaining in the contest while Oneonta had its seven-point lead at 54-47 with 5:15 to go in the game after a basket by freshman Sarah Longto (Kingston/Kingston).

At 1:09 remaining, Liza Leyes gave the Pride its last lead at 59-58 after making the second of two free throws.  Down the stretch, it was Szkotak who made 4-of-6 free throws to secure victory for the Red Dragons.  In the contest, Szkotak made 8-of-10 from the charity stripe.

Sophomore Alyshia Crawford (Oxford/Oxford) and junior Gabi Regan (Troy/Columbia) added 11 points and 10 points respectively off the bench for Oneonta, which made 20 of its 24 free throws in the game.

The Red Dragons will have a week off before getting back into action at Plattsburgh next Tuesday evening, Jan. 10.  Tip-off is scheduled for 6pm.

Newspaper Box Score
01/02/12 at Sportsplex - Lakeland, Fl.

ONEONTA STATE 62, GWYNEDD-MERCY 59
ONEONTA STATE (6-4)
SZKOTAK, Samantha 4-6 8-10 17; CRAWFORD, Alyshia 2-6 6-6 11; REGAN, Gabi 5-11 0-0 10; LONGTO, Sarah 3-5 2-3 8; MULLIGAN, Kelly 2-3 1-1 5; SLAGLE, Madison 1-8 2-2 5; PAPPALARDO, Kristin 1-6 0-0 3; SIMPRI, Vania 1-1 0-0 2; SCHILLING, Grace 0-2 1-2 1; WILVERDING, Kate 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-49 20-24 62.

GWYNEDD-MERCY (5-6)
Neill, Brittany 5-19 2-2 14; Cotteta, Bryn 3-11 6-7 13; Dominic, Jordan 3-4 0-0 8; Rotella, Jess 3-10 1-4 7; Leyes, Liza 1-3 3-4 6; Dougherty, Nicole 2-4 0-0 4; Alston, Taylour 1-3 0-0 2; Smith, Lauren 1-4 0-0 2; Yori, Kelsey 1-2 0-0 2; Wassel, Shea 0-2 1-2 1; Matthews, Natasha 0-1 0-0 0; McArdle, Cara 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-63 13-19 59.

3-point goals--Oneonta State 4-17 (CRAWFORD, Alyshia 1-3; PAPPALARDO, Kristin 1-5; SZKOTAK, Samantha 1-3; SLAGLE, Madison 1-4; SCHILLING, Grace 0-1; REGAN, Gabi 0-1), Gwynedd-Mercy 6-21 (Dominic, Jordan 2-3; Neill,
Brittany 2-10; Cotteta, Bryn 1-4; Leyes, Liza 1-1; Smith, Lauren 0-1; Yori, Kelsey 0-1; Wassel, Shea 0-1).
Fouled out--Oneonta State-None,  Gwynedd-Mercy-Leyes, Liza; Alston, Taylour.
Rebounds--Oneonta State 34 (REGAN, Gabi 7), Gwynedd-Mercy 43 (Neill, Brittany 10).
Assists—Oneonta State 14 (MULLIGAN, Kelly 6), Gwynedd-Mercy 12 (Cotteta, Bryn 6).
Total fouls--Oneonta State 16, Gwynedd-Mercy 22.
Technical fouls—Oneonta State-SZKOTAK, Samantha, Gwynedd-Mercy-None.