PLATTSBURGH. N.Y. -- In their regular season finale where neither team held more than a five-point lead, the Oneonta women's basketball came up short at Plattsburgh State, 50-48, Saturday afternoon. Junior
Sophia Wakin (Delhi, NY/Delaware Academy) had the team-high 14 points with eight boards and senior
Jenna Harclerode (Sayville, NY/Sayville) recorded 10 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double. The Red Dragons conclude the regular season 10-15 overall, 8-10 in the SUNYAC, and the Cardinals ended 10-14 overall and 7-11 in conference play. Oneonta finished as the No. 6 seed in the conference standings and will travel to Geneseo, the No. 3 seed, for the first round of the SUNYAC tournament on Tuesday.
Oneonta scored all their field goals around the basket in the first quarter with junior
Amanda Zuntag (Staten Island, NY/Notre Dame Academy) scoring seven of the team's 13 points. Zuntag cut to the rim and received a pass from senior
Molly Stephens (LaGrange, NY/Arlington) for the first basket then she converted an and-one after Wakin hit back-to-back turnaround jumpers. Harclerode made her first basket off a give-and-go with Stephens to give the Red Dragons an 11-10 edge at 2:40. Following two free throws from Cardinals Payton Couture, Zuntag went strong against two defenders for a layup to regain the lead at the end of the first, 13-12.
The Red Dragons extended their lead to five, 21-16, with 5:23 left in the half after a putback jumper from junior
Nadia Brown (Troy, NY/Troy) and another inside shot from Wakin, however the Cardinals answered with a 10-2 run to take a three-point lead at 1:38. Freshman
Megan Desrats (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) fought for an offensive rebound and hit a fadeaway, then sophomore
Lidia Boucher (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central High School) fed it to Wakin down low for another turnaround shot and a 27-26 advantage at the break.
Plattsburgh held a 30-29 edge for a moment off a three-pointer from Kathy Peterson-Ross until Harclerode answered with her own triple at the top of the arc at 6:34. Wakin and Zuntag hit a couple shots to build a three-point lead at 2:26, but Couture scored four points before the end of the third to bring the Cardinals within one, 38-37.
Couture scored a three-pointer to gain a 42-40 lead with 7:47 left. Plattsburgh held the lead until Stephens used a Harclerode screen to hit a jump shot at the free throw line to tie the game at 44 with 4:04 to go. The Cardinals held the Red Dragons scoreless to go up 49-44 with 20 seconds remaining, however Harclerode kept the team alive with a couple free throws. Following a missed trip at the line from Plattsburgh, Brown received the ball down low for a quick layup to make it 49-48 with six seconds left. After Peterson-Ross made her first free throw she missed her second to give Oneonta a shot to tie or take the lead, however they could not get a shot off before the buzzer.
Harclerode and Wakin came off the bench as they combined for 24 points and 19 reobunds. Zuntag finished with 13 points and six boards, Stephens had five points and six assists.
Couture led Plattsburgh with 19 points and four assists, Imani Walcott had seven points and 15 rebounds.
Oneonta held a 54-46 rebounding advantage and had seven turnovers to Plattsburgh's 17.
The Red Dragons tip-off against the Knights in the first round of the SUNYAC tournament Tuesday at 7:00 pm at Geneseo.
