ONEONTA, N.Y. -- The Oneonta women's basketball team fell in their final home game of the regular season to No. 25 nationally ranked New Paltz, 72-55, Friday evening in conference play in Dewar Arena. The Red Dragons only trailed by six points at halftime, then the Hawks outscored them 31-20 in the second half. The result moved Oneonta to 13-10 this season, 8-8 in the SUNYAC, while New Paltz improved to 21-2 overall and 15-1 in conference competition.
Junior
Carlie Young (Baldwinsville, NY/Baldwinsville Central) shot 7-for-15 from the floor to finish with the team-high 19 points with three rebounds, and senior
Lidia Boucher (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) went 6-for-15 from the field, 3-for-6 from three-point range, to end with 15 points and four rebounds. Junior
Megan Desrats (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) led the Red Dragons with seven rebounds and eight assists, while adding six points.
"This group continues to fight for growth, and even though we faced a great deal of adversity tonight we definitely made progress!" Head Coach
Daphne Thompson commented.
New Paltz built an 11-point lead at 6:35, until freshman
Skye Cameron-Pressley (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) split a pair at the line then drove the baseline for a layup to make Oneonta's deficit 15-9 at 4:34. In the final moments of the opening period, sophomore
Kendall Mack (Cortland, NY/Cortland) assisted Young with a corner three and Desrats on a basline jumper to keep the Red Dragons within seven, 25-18, heading into the second.
Boucher knocked down a pair of treys on back-to-back possessions to pull Oneonta within three, 27-24, at 9:01, then Brianna Fitzgerald scored the next two baskets for New Paltz to regain their multi-possession lead for the rest of the half. Before the half ended, Desrats tipped the Hawks' pass for the steal and found Young in transition for the fastbreak layup to enter the break trailing 41-36.
The Red Dragons got within two points at 8:16 in the third after Boucher and Young each drained a midrange jumper, but the Hawks answered with a 12-4 stretch to go up 53-43 at 5:38. Young stopped the run with a jump shot, and later scored two from the free throw line, however New Paltz recorded the final eight points of the quarter to take a 63-47 lead.
The Hawks' run continued at the start of the fourth as they went ahead 70-47 with 8:17 to play. Oneonta held New Paltz to two points for the final eight minutes of the game and closed it out with an 8-2 stretch. Cameron-Pressley drained a jump shot from the top of the arc, while sophomore
Emily Bennett (Brentwood, NY) had a quick first-step and drove past her defender for the layup. After sophomore
Leela Guobadia (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) split a pair at the free throw line, junior
Angelena Giuliano (Troy, NY/Catholic Central) went towards the rim and drew contact for the and-one to score the final points of the game.
Oneonta shot 38.9 percent from the floor and 30.8 percent from three-point range. New Paltz shot 48.3 percent from the field, 26.1 percent from deep, and finished with a 39-26 rebounding advantage. The Hawks were led by Fitzgerald with 22 points, six rebounds, and eight assists, while Karly Wittenbauer and Hannah Vanderzee each scored 14 points.
The Red Dragons return to the court on Friday, February 20, for a SUNYAC road game against Potsdam starting at 5:30 pm.
