The SUNY Oneonta women's basketball team posted 29 points in the third quarter tonight enroute to a 77-66 victory over Buffalo State in the first semifinal of the SUNYAC championship weekend at SUNY Geneseo.  The Red Dragons will now face top-seeded and host Geneseo tomorrow afternoon at 4pm for the conference title and the automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.  Geneseo defeated New Paltz 63-57 in the other semifinal.
 
Oneonta (19-7) will be making its seventh championship game appearance its first since 2012 when they defeated Buffalo State to win its third SUNYAC title all time.  The Red Dragons and Knights have met two previous times in the conference championship game splitting the two contests.  In 1998, Oneonta defeated Geneseo 69-60 to win its first title.  In 2011, the Red Dragons lost to the Knights 55-48.
 
Oneonta's big third quarter allowed them to break open a two-point game at halftime where the Red Dragons led 32-30.  Oneonta trailed 15-13 after the first quarter before outscoring the Bengals 19-15 in the second quarter to grab the lead heading into the break.
 
With 7:30 remaining in the third quarter, the Red Dragons held onto a 40-38 lead before seizing control of the contest.  A jumper by sophomore Alexa Amalbert (Nanuet/Nanuet) began a 21-7 run over the final 7:30 where Oneonta took a 61-45 lead heading to the final quarter.  Sophomore Leanne Corso (Commack/Commack) led the charge with eight points in the quarter finishing with 12 for the game.  Junior Teresa Anken (Rome/Rome Free Academy) capped the run with a jumper with nine seconds left in the third.
 
Amalbert finished the contest with a collegiate best 25 points tonight including 13 points in the first half.  She made 9-of-19 shots including 4-of-9 from behind the arc.
 
Oneonta's largest deficit was just four points and came early in the second quarter at 17-13.  A layup by Anken gave the Red Dragons the lead 22-21 midway through the quarter.  Late in the quarter, the two squads took turns with the lead until a three-pointer by Amalbert with 32 seconds left put Oneonta ahead for good.
 
Joining Amalbert and Corso in double figures tonight was freshman Maya Bernsley (Monroe/Monroe Woodbury) (11 pts) and Anken (10 pts).  Corso also hauled down 10 boards while Bernsley's 11 points was a collegiate high.
 
Both teams shot 45 percent in the game with the biggest advantage coming from long distance.  Oneonta made nine, three-pointers to just one for the Bengals.  Otherwise everything was even statistically.