ONEONTA, N.Y -- The SUNY Oneonta women's basketball team owned the glass and had a +23-rebounding margin as they defeated Mount St. Mary's College, 62-47, Saturday afternoon on the final day of the Oneonta & Hartwick Classic. Senior Molly Stephens (LaGrange, NY/Arlington) had the game-high 20 points, collected four rebounds, and was named to the All-Tournament team. The Red Dragons improved to 2-2 on the season while the Knights dropped to 1-1.   

Senior Jenna Harclerode (Sayville, NY/Sayville) recorded the team's first three points as Mount St. Mary's had an early 4-3 edge. Oneonta gained the lead and didn't let go when freshman Carlie Young (Baldwinsville, NY/Baldwinsville Central) found Megan Desrats (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) down near the rim for the go-ahead basket at 3:09, which also sparked an 8-0 run powered by Desrats and sophomore Emma Schwarzbeck (Wallkill, NY/Wallkill Senior High School). The Saints Lauren Petrie made a putback in the last second to bring them back within five, 11-6.  

The Red Dragons maintained the five-point lead going into halftime. Junior Nadia Brown (Troy, NY/Troy) and Stephens scored in the paint to go ahead seven, then junior Sophia Wakin (Delhi, NY/Delaware Academy) recorded the team's next six points and built a 21-12 lead with 4:24 to play in the half. The Saints chipped part of the deficit away in the closing minutes, but a layup from Stephens and a free throw from sophomore Lidia Boucher (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central High School) put the Red Dragons ahead at the break, 24-19.  

Stephens broke the game open at the start of the third quarter and scored 11 points during a 13-2 run that extended the lead to 16 at 5:58 in the third, a margin Oneonta took with them into the fourth. Stephens and Desrats hit back-to-back triples to put the Red Dragons up 50-30 for their largest lead of the game with 9:02 to play. The deficit was too much for the Saints to overcome and freshman Maddie Hoy (Canton, NY/Canton Central) capped off the victory with a floater in the paint for her first career points as a Red Dragon.  

Oneonta had 10 different players find the basket. Wakin finished with nine points and six rebounds, Schwarzbeck ended with eight points and seven boards, and Desrats had seven points to go with six rebounds.

The Red Dragons outrebounded the Saints, 54-31, including 22 offensive rebounds that turned into 15 second chance points whereas the Saints had only five rebounds offensively, and two second chance points. Both Harclerode and junior Amanda Zuntag (Staten Island, NY/Notre Dame Academy) had eight rebounds to co-lead the team. Oneonta shot 30.2 percent from the field while Mount St. Mary's shot 27.6 percent.  

Joining Stephens on the All-Tournament team was Mount Saint Mary's Shannon Phelan, Hartwick's Isabella Astorino, and Hamilton's Taylor Lambo and Kendall Harris.  

The Red Dragons next game is the SUNYAC opener at Brockport on December 1 at 5:30 pm Read Full Article