SAINT-LAMBERT, MONTREAL – The Oneonta women's basketball team built a commanding 17-point lead by halftime to defeat Castleton, 56-42, on the first day of the Montreal Shootout, Monday afternoon. The Red Dragons had three players score in double digits while they limited the Spartans offense to 23.9 percent from the floor. Senior
Lidia Boucher (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) and freshman duo
Kayla Beaudoin (Brunswick, N.Y./Tamarac) and
Tyalia Fret-Thom (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) all scored 10 points in the win as the team improved to 5-2 this season and Castleton dropped to 3-6 overall.
"Great team win!" exclaimed head coach
Daphne Thompson. "We continue to grow and learn how to manage our composure when adversity rises. I'm proud of how we managed ourselves."
The Red Dragons recorded the first six points of the game for an early lead with baskets from freshman
Addy Eckert (Bloomville, N.Y./South Kortright), junior
Carlie Young (Baldwinsville, NY/Baldwinsville Central) and Boucher. Castleton started to piece together their offense to tie the game, 9-9, with 1:04 left in the first, before Beaudoin drained a three-pointer to regain the edge. The Spartans' Arianna Coombs made a jump shot in the closing seconds to head into the second quarter trailing 12-11.
Coombs gave Castleton the lead to start the second quarter, then Oneonta used the rest of the period to go on a 23-5 run to take a 35-18 lead into halftime. Fret-Thom led the Red Dragons during the stretch with eight points, including a pair of three-pointers, while Young and Boucher each contributed four points, and Beaudoin and junior
Angelena Giuliano (Troy, NY/Catholic Central) both knocked down a trey.
Castleton trimmed Oneonta's lead to 13 at 7:41 in the third quarter, until Boucher drove to the rim for a layup then split a pair at the line to go up 40-24 at 5:53. Sophomore
Kendall Mack (Cortland, NY/Cortland) hit a jumper off an assist from junior
Maddie Hoy (Canton, NY/Canton Central) to give the Red Dragons an 18-point advantage, their largest lead of the game, at 1:45, but the Spartans recorded the final five points of the quarter and cut the deficit to 44-31.
Oneonta held a double-digit lead throughout the fourth quarter before Castleton recorded a pair of three-pointers to make it 50-42 with 3:41 left. In the final moments of the game, the Red Dragons defense forced the Spartans to go scoreless, shooting 0-for-6 from the field, while they scored the last six points for the 56-42 final.
Young finished with eight points, six rebounds and three assists, while Eckert recorded six points and six boards. Along with scoring 10 points, Boucher totaled nine rebounds with two steals, and Beaudoin added six boards and three assists. Junior
Megan Desrats (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) led the team with 10 rebounds.
Castleton's Schuylar Nolan had the game-high 11 points and three assists, and Coombs finished with 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
Oneonta shot 34.3 percent from the floor while they finished with a 55-44 rebounding advantage and a 20-5 edge in bench points.
The Red Dragons are back in action on Tuesday, December 30, to face the No. 1 nationally ranked New York University at 2 pm for the final day at the Montreal Shootout.
