ONEONTA, N.Y. -- Seniors Olivia Dobrovosky (Skaneateles/Skaneateles) and Meg Nardelli (Wappingers Falls/Roy C. Ketcham) each recorded 18 points in the SUNY Oneonta women's basketball team's 62-45 victory over Potsdam in the first round of the SUNYAC Tournament, Tuesday evening. The Red Dragons converted 19 points off turnovers, to the Bears eight, and held them to 26.3 percent from the field. With the win, Oneonta will face Cortland on Friday in the SUNYAC semifinals at the tournament host site, New Paltz.   

Dobrovosky tallied the first few points for the Red Dragons before sophomore Amanda Zuntag (Staten Island/Notre Dame Academy) and graduate student Clara Culeton (Oswego/Oswego) each knocked down a jump shot. Potsdam kept the slight edge with five points from Jakia Howard and a couple three-pointers. Dobrovosky tied the game at 10 at 1:21, but Bella Barner answered with a triple, giving the Bears a 13-10 advantage going into the second.

Potsdam extended the lead to five with a pair of free throws from Jenna Cotter to open the period, but Oneonta retaliated and went on a 14-0 run. Sophomore Nadia Brown (Troy/Troy) got the run started at the line and later drilled a three-pointer. Zuntag made a couple jump shots before Dobrovosky and Nardelli hit one of their own. Graduate student Megan Palmatier (Bainbridge/Bainbridge-Guilford) converted two at the line to make it 24-15, capping the Red Dragons run with 5:19 left in the half. Following a layup from Dobrovosky, Nardelli closed out the half with a steal and jumper to give Oneonta a 28-20 halftime lead.  

Nardelli scored on the first two Red Dragon possessions, including a three-pointer, then junior Jenna Harclerode (Sayville/Sayville) extended the lead to 13 with a layup at 8:00. The Bears chipped the deficit away to seven, until Nardelli knocked down a triple at 5:05. In the final 2:28 of the third, Nardelli made her third three-pointer of the quarter and Dobrovosky scored six to keep Oneonta's lead at 13, 49-36.  

The Red Dragons opened the fourth quarter with an 11-0 run, holding the Bears scoreless for the first five minutes of the quarter. Harclerode led the stretch with six points while Nardelli hit another three and Dobrovosky made a pair at the line. Freshman Lidia Boucher (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central High School) laid it in off a dish by sophomore Molly Coyne (Syracuse/West Genesee) for Oneonta's final bucket of the game at 2:39 as there was not enough time for Potsdam to comeback.

Harclerode and Zuntag each finished with eight points, Harclerode also led the game with nine rebounds. Brown had the game-high seven assists to go with four points and four rebounds. Along with their 18 points, Dobrovosky had eight rebounds and two steals, while Nardelli shot 4-for-10 from deep, grabbed seven boards, and had four steals.

Howard and Carley Hill led with nine points for the Bears and Mikayla Shipley had eight rebounds and three assists.

Oneonta shot 35.9 percent from the field and had a 49-35 rebounding advantage.  

The third battle between the Red Dragons will be the second game played on Friday, following Geneseo and New Paltz, and will tip-off approximately 7:30 pm.  Read Full Article