ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The Oneonta women's basketball team fell in a close non-conference thriller to Hamilton, 59-57, on the final day of the Oneonta & Hartwick Classic, Saturday afternoon. Hamilton held onto a one-possession lead for the final seven minutes of play as Oneonta had a chance to send the game into overtime with less than a second remaining but could not convert the game-tying shot. Senior
Amanda Zuntag (Staten Island, NY/Notre Dame Academy) led the team with 13 points, nine rebounds and four steals, and junior
Emma Schwarzbeck (Wallkill, NY/Wallkill Senior High School) recorded 11 points and the team-high four assists. The Red Dragons moved to 1-2 on the season while the Continentals improved to 2-0 overall.
After Zuntag scored the first basket of the contest, Hamilton gained the lead at 8:24 and held onto it for the remainder of the quarter. A couple of three-pointers from seniors
Nadia Brown (Troy, NY/Troy) and
Molly Coyne (Syracuse, NY/West Genesee), and a layup by Schwarzbeck kept Oneonta within one at the end of the period, 11-12.
Zuntag took charge in the second quarter and scored 10 of the teams' 13 points. She hit a jumper from the wing, then junior
Lidia Boucher (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central High School) drained a three-pointer for a 16-12 lead. The Continentals tied it with 4:53 to go in the half, then Zuntag knocked down a couple treys and scored inside the paint for an 8-0 run to put the Red Dragons ahead 24-16 at 2:55. Hamilton closed out the half with a 7-0 stretch to cut Oneonta's lead to one, 24-23.
The first few minutes of the third were back and forth between the teams. Sophomore
Carlie Young (Baldwinsville, NY/Baldwinsville Central) drilled a deep three-pointer from the top of the arc to tie the game at 5:55 before the Continentals went on a 7-0 run to go up 38-31 at 3:46. Sophomore
Megan Desrats (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) closed out the third with a corner three and a pair at the line to bring the Red Dragons within four, 40-36.
Oneonta tied the game with 5:42 left in the fourth off a Young free throw, then again at 5:13 when Coyne knocked down her second triple of the game. Taylor Lambo regained the lead for Hamilton with a three-point play at 3:58. With 51 seconds remaining, Schwarzbeck drove to the lane off Zuntag's screen to make it a one-point game, however the Continentals answered back with a second chance basket to go up 58-55 with 15 seconds to go.
Out of a timeout, the Red Dragons missed the game-tying three, but Brown was under the basket for the putback with 3.7 seconds left. Oneonta immediately fouled Lambo, who split a pair at the line for the 59-57 advantage with 2.5 seconds on the clock. Zuntag launched a full-court pass that was tipped out by Hamilton, allowing Oneonta to inbound the ball on the opposite baseline with 0.4 seconds left. Schwarzbeck received the ball and got a fadeaway jumper off as the clock expired but was off the mark.
Desrats finished with nine points and three assists, Coyne had eight points and four rebounds, and Brown totaled seven points and four boards.
Lambo had 15 points and 16 rebounds for Hamilton, and Kendall Harris led with 16 points.
The Continentals shot 35.6 percent from the floor and held a 44-30 rebounding advantage over the Red Dragons, who shot 33.3 percent from the field. Oneonta committed seven fewer turnovers, 10-17, and had a 12-point margin, 14-2, in points off turnovers.
The Red Dragons are back in action on Tuesday, November 19, at Hartwick for the Battle of the Hills against the Hawks at 6 pm.
