CORTLAND, N.Y. -- The Oneonta women's basketball team fell in their SUNYAC matchup to Red Dragon rival (RV) Cortland, 58-42, on the road Saturday afternoon. Oneonta had the lead at the end of the first quarter, then Cortland used the next two periods to grow a 19-point advantage. The result moved Oneonta to 6-5 this season, 1-3 in SUNYAC play, and Cortland improved to 10-2 overall and 5-0 in the conference.
Freshman
Addy Eckert (Bloomville, NY/South Kortright) shot 3-for-8 from the floor to lead Oneonta with eight points and seven rebounds, while senior
Lidia Boucher (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) finished with seven points, two assists, and a steal. Junior
Carlie Young (Baldwinsville, NY/Baldwinsville Central) and freshman
Tyalia Fret-Thom (Poughkeepsie, NY/Roy C. Ketcham) each had six points.
"As a team, we need to utilize the challenges we are facing to continue to improve," said head coach
Daphne Thompson.
Eckert put Oneonta on the board with two from the free throw line, then junior
Megan Desrats (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) was underneath the basket when she kicked it out to Young at the top of the arc for a deep three at 6:52. Desrats led the game with five assists. After freshman
Kayla Beaudoin (Brunswick, NY/Tamarac) drove past her defender for the layup, Young got the ball from Boucher and drained her second triple of the game to put Oneonta ahead 10-4 at 4:42. Cortland pulled within one, then Boucher knocked down a trey of her own from the wing with a defender heavily guarding her. The Oneonta senior later drove to the basket and handed it off to sophomore
Leela Guobadia (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) for the basket to give Oneonta a five-point lead at 1:58. Cortland's Joleen Lusk recovered her own miss and scored an offensive putback to make it 15-12 at the end of the quarter.
Fret-Thom scored the first couple baskets for Oneonta in the second quarter, while Cortland went on a 12-4 run to take a 24-19 lead with 3:48 left in the quarter. Following a free throw from Guobadia, freshman
Sydney Pleat (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) hit a floater and freshman
Skye Cameron-Pressley (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) cut towards the rim and received a pass from Desrats to keep it a five-point deficit, 29-24, at halftime.
Cortland went on an 18-4 stretch during the third quarter to put themselves ahead 47-28 at the end of the period. Adriana Fontana led Cortland in the quarter with six points, while Eckert and Desrats scored for Oneonta.
Oneonta had a quick 8-2 run that made it 49-36 with 7:18 to play, but Cortland hit a three on their next possession and maintained the double-digit lead for the rest of the quarter. In the closing seconds of the game, sophomore
Emily Bennett (Brentwood, NY) recorded her first career points as an Oneonta Red Dragon with a pair at the free throw line.
Oneonta shot 39.5 percent from the floor and 30.0 percent from three-point range. Cortland shot 45.1 percent from the field, 22.2 percent from deep, and finished with a 30-23 rebounding advantage. Lusk led Cortland with 17 points, five rebounds, and two blocks, and Sam Dembinsky added 11 points.
Oneonta is back in Dewar Arena for their next game on Tuesday, January 13, against Oswego State in SUNYAC play at 5:30 pm.
