The SUNY Oneonta women's basketball team turned up the defensive pressure in the second half of today's thrilling comeback victory against SUNY Geneseo 61-56.  The Red Dragons outscored the Blue Knights, 37-17, in the second half including holding Geneseo without a field goal over the final 5:06 of the contest.  Oneonta (13-4/7-3 SUNYAC) had held Geneseo (10-5/4-4 SUNYAC) without a field goal for four minutes during another stretch in the second half.

After shooting 50 percent in the first half, Oneonta held Geneseo to just 7-of-24 in the second half while forcing 13 Blue Knight turnovers.  Oneonta also held a 14-3 advantage from the line including 5-of-6 down the stretch.

Oneonta trailed by as many as 19 early in the second half after trailing 39-24 at halftime.  The Red Dragons continued to chip away at the Blue Knight lead putting together 16-7 in the opening 10 minutes and a closing run of 15-2 over the final 7:06.  The 19-point comeback for Oneonta is one of the biggest in the program's history.

Senior Alyshia Crawford (Oxford/Oxford) scored 13 of her team high 20 points in the second half, as she and junior Sarah Longto (Kingston/Kingston) came up big offensively in the closing minutes of the contest.  Longto converted 5-of-8 from the free throw line in the game and finished with seven points and three blocks.  Sophomore Lyteshia Price (Liverpool/Liverpool) was solid and steady in both halves, scoring 13 points in the game while grabbing a team high seven boards and collecting three steals.

The Blue Knights didn't miss too many shots in the opening 20 minutes of play in building its 15-point lead at the break.  Sophomore Dana Cohan was on fire, hitting 5-of-5 from long range, as she compiled 15 points in the first half.  She finished the game as the high scorer with 24 points.  Junior Biz Reinhardt was the other player to reach double figures for the visitors with 12 points.

Newspaper Box Score
SUNY ONEONTA 61, SUNY GENESEO 56

SUNY GENESEO (10-5/4-4 SUNYAC)
Dana Cohan 9-15 0-0 24; Biz Reinhardt 5-8 1-2 12; Allison McKenna 4-9 0-1 8; Shannon McGinnis 2-9 2-2 7; Bridgit Ryan 1-4 0-0 3; Katie Peterson 1-6 0-1 2; Katie Vienneau 0-1 0-2 0; Jenna Phillips 0-0 0-0 0; Kayleigh Cavanaugh 0-1 0-0 0; Katie Durand 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-54 3-8 56.

SUNY ONEONTA (13-4/7-3 SUNYAC)
CRAWFORD, Alyshia 6-13 4-4 20; PRICE, Lyteshia 5-10 2-3 13; LONGTO, Sarah 1-5 5-8 7; LOOMIS, Bryn 3-5 0-0 6; ADAMS, Cara 1-2 1-3 4; SCHILLING, Grace 1-4 2-2 4; SPECTOR, Brianna 1-4 0-0 3; DiPASQUALE, Sara 1-4 0-0 2; MULLIGAN, Kelly 1-6 0-0 2; PONESSE, Kaitlyn 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-53 14-20 61.

3-point goals--SUNY Geneseo 9-21 (Dana Cohan 6-8; Shannon McGinnis 1-2; Biz Reinhardt 1-1; Bridgit Ryan 1-3; Kayleigh Cavanaugh 0-1; Katie Peterson 0-3; Allison McKenna 0-3), SUNY Oneonta 7-17 (CRAWFORD, Alyshia 4-7; SPECTOR, Brianna 1-3; PRICE, Lyteshia 1-4; ADAMS, Cara 1-1; MULLIGAN, Kelly 0-1; LOOMIS, Bryn 0-1).
Fouled out--SUNY Geneseo-Allison McKenna; Biz Reinhardt, SUNY Oneonta-None.
Rebounds--SUNY Geneseo 39 (Shannon McGinnis 10), SUNY Oneonta 34 (PRICE, Lyteshia 7). Assists--SUNY Geneseo 16 (Bridgit Ryan 5), SUNY Oneonta 13 (SCHILLING, Grace 5).
Total fouls--SUNY Geneseo 17, SUNY Oneonta 13.
Technical fouls--SUNY Geneseo-Biz Reinhardt, SUNY Oneonta-None.
A-271