The Oneonta State women's basketball season will continue on Friday night after defeating Oswego 53-40 in the quarterfinals of the SUNYAC tournament.  Oneonta (17-8) will face New Paltz at Buffalo State in the first semifinal beginning at 6pm.  New Paltz defeated Plattsburgh 81-69 tonight at home.

The second semifinal will match fifth seeded Cortland, a 70-64 winner in overtime at Geneseo and top seeded Buffalo.  The Bengals defeated Fredonia 64-56 tonight at home.

Oneonta will be making its fifth straight appearance in the semifinals of the tournament under coach Daphne Thompson.  Last year the Red Dragons fell in the championship game to Geneseo.

"This was a great team win for us tonight," commented Thompson after the game.  "We have proven this year that we are a deep team.  We don't need big performances, we just need everyone to do what they are capable of doing."

In the end, it was the play of the Oneonta bench that contributed heavily to the victory.  The Red Dragon reserves out scored Oswego's bench 25-10.  Leading the way was sophomore Alyshia Crawford (Oxford/Oxford), who scored 13 points in 22 minutes of action.  She scored 10 points in the opening half to help the Red Dragons build a commanding 35-17 lead at halftime.

As a team, Oneonta shot 35 percent from the floor including 48 percent in the first half when they built their big lead.  The Red Dragons also forced 23 turnovers and turned them into 21 points.

The Lakers did make a couple of runs in the game, but couldn't get closer than 11 points in the second half.  Senior Kayla Ryan led Oswego (12-14) with 10 points.

Oswego's most dangerous run came in the opening half when they trailed 17-5. The Lakers scored nine unanswered points to cut Oneonta's lead to 17-14 at the 8:23 mark.  A three-pointer by junior Meagan Stover capped the 9-0 run for Oswego.

Oneonta countered and closed the final eight minutes of the first half out scoring the Lakers 18-3 to head into the break up 35-17.

On Friday's matchup with New Paltz coach Thompson said, "It's always a great game.  We have to take care of the ball and make our free throws.  We need to have more possessions than they do and keep them off the offensive glass."

Thompson added, "This is the first time that we are entering the semifinals having defeated each of the final four teams at least once.  We know we are capable and our players have to believe they can win the SUNYAC championship."

Oneonta split with both Buffalo State and New Paltz this season and swept Cortland.  The SUNYAC championship game is scheduled for Saturday afternoon beginning at 4pm.

Newspaper Box Score
ONEONTA STATE 53, OSWEGO STATE 40

OSWEGO STATE (12-14/7-11)
RYAN, Kayla 4-16 1-5 10; STOVER,Meagan 3-9 2-3 9; ROSSI, Jenna 1-3 6-6 8; NUNZIATO, Lauren 2-8 1-2 7; KIPPER,Kari 0-5 4-5 4; GEORGIADE, Alyssa 1-3 0-0 2; PRITCHARD, Brittany 0-2 0-0 0; EGELSTON, Paula 0-3 0-0 0; SMITH, Taryn 0-0 0-0 0; KLEINE, Kassie 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 11-51 14-21 40.

ONEONTA STATE (17-8/14-4)
CRAWFORD, Alyshia 4-8 4-5 13; SZKOTAK, Samantha 4-10 2-2 11; SLAGLE, Madison 4-14 0-1 9; WILVERDING, Kate 2-5 0-0 6; MULLIGAN, Kelly 2-3 0-0 4; PAPPALARDO, Kristin 0-3 4-4 4; SCHILLING, Grace 2-4 0-1 4; PONESSE, Kaitlyn 1-1 0-0 2; LONGTO, Sarah 0-5 0-0 0; SIMPRI, Vania 0-0 0-0 0; RUFER, Lisa 0-1 0-0 0; WELYTOK, Ashley 0-0 0-0 0; REGAN, Gabi 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-54 10-13 53.

3-point goals--Oswego State 4-21 (NUNZIATO, Lauren 2-8; STOVER,Meagan 1-4; RYAN, Kayla 1-5; KLEINE, Kassie 0-1; KIPPER,Kari 0-2; ROSSI, Jenna 0-1), Oneonta State 5-16 (WILVERDING, Kate 2-4; CRAWFORD, Alyshia 1-3; SLAGLE, Madison 1-5; SZKOTAK, Samantha 1-3; RUFER, Lisa 0-1).
Fouled out—Oswego State-None, Oneonta State-None.
Rebounds--Oswego State 41 (EGELSTON, Paula 7; ROSSI, Jenna 7), Oneonta State 40 (LONGTO, Sarah 10).
Assists—Oswego State 6 (ROSSI, Jenna 2), Oneonta State 11 (SCHILLING, Grace 3; MULLIGAN,
Kelly 3).
Total fouls--Oswego State 15, Oneonta State 16.
Technical fouls--Oswego State-None, Oneonta State-None.
A-127