Junior Leanne Corso (Commack/Commack) buried a three-pointer to break a 69 all tie with 50 seconds remaining, as the SUNY Oneonta women's basketball team picked up a key early season road win at New Paltz this afternoon 76-69.  Corso also added a pair of free throws in the final seconds to give her a collegiate best 28 points for the game.
 
Oneonta (7-1, 3-0 SUNYAC) scored a season high 76 points while shooting a season best 56 percent from the field (27-48).  The Red Dragons outrebounded New Paltz (4-3, 2-1 SUNYAC) 40-36 and had a 12-2 advantage on fast break points.  Corso secured a game high 12 boards to lead Oneonta.
 
The Red Dragons entered the final quarter with a 54-50 after the Hawks made a comeback in the third quarter after trailing at halftime 40-28.  Taylor Howell made a three to the knot the score at 56 apiece.  It was the first time the game was tied since 20-20 in the opening minute of the second quarter.  As a team, the Hawks made 15 shots from behind the arc in the game including five by Rachel Simon leading the Hawks with 23 points.
 
Another three-pointer by Lindsey Bettke gave the Hawks a 59-56 lead, which they held until Amalbert made a layup as part of a three-point play at the 4:32 mark to give Oneonta the lead back at 63-61.  On New Paltz's next possession, Simon made a three to give the Hawks their final lead of the game, as senior Teresa Anken (Rome/Rome Free Academy) buried a three on the next trip down the floor to regain the lead for the Red Dragons.
In a high scoring first quarter, it was the Hawks that grabbed a slim 20-18 lead.  The Red Dragons led for most of the opening quarter before a late surge by New Paltz gave them its lead.  Junior Alexa Amalbert (Nanuet/Nanuet) led Oneonta with nine points enroute to finishing with 21 points in the contest.
 
The second quarter belonged to Oneonta outscoring the Hawks 22-8 to grab its halftime lead.  Corso led the onslaught with 13 points in the quarter including an exclamation three-pointer in the final minute.
 
The Hawks seized the momentum of the third quarter fighting their way back to get to within four points by the end of the stanza.  A three-pointer by Simon cut Oneonta's lead to a bucket at the 1:32 mark.
 
The women will now have three weeks until its next game against William Paterson in the opening game of the Western Connecticut State Tournament on Dec. 29.