NEW PALTZ, N.Y. -- The Oneonta women's basketball team's season comes to an end as they were tripped up in the SUNYAC semifinals to No. 22 Cortland, 65-49, Friday evening in New Paltz. Oneonta only trailed 31-27 at halftime, then Cortland outscored them 34-22 in the second half for the game. Cortland will face New Paltz in the conference finals tomorrow at 4 pm. With the result, Oneonta finished the season 15-12 overall and Cortland improved to 23-3.
Junior
Megan Desrats (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) shot 5-for-13 from the floor and finished with the game-high 15 points while she tied her career-high six steals, along with six rebounds, two assists, and a block. Sophomore
Leela Guobadia (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) went 4-for-4 from the field for nine points, eight boards, and a block off the bench.
A link to a post-game interview by Head Coach
Daphne Thompson and Desrats can be found at the top of the article, or you can click
HERE to watch the interview.
Cortland jumped out to an eight-point lead before Desrats and Guobadia scored in the paint to make it a 12-6 deficit at 5:39. Cortland extended their lead to 10, until freshman
Addy Eckert (Bloomville, NY/South Kortright) knocked down a jumper, then she grabbed an offensive rebound where Desrats eventually got possession and scored with a layup to make it an 18-12 game.
Eckert and senior
Lidia Boucher (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) traded buckets with Cortland to start the second quarter, but Cortland would regain the 10-point advantage, 26-16, at 6:15. After Cortland made it a double-digit game, Guobadia and junior
Carlie Young (Baldwinsville, NY/Baldwinsville Central) ignited a 10-2 run for Oneonta and brought themselves within two, 28-26 at 1:53. Cortland made a three-pointer while Eckert split a pair at the line, and Oneonta went into the half down four, 31-27.
Eckert sank a pair at the line in the beginning of the third, however Cortland went on a 12-2 run to go up 42-29 at 7:07. Oneonta brought the game back to singles digits after Desrats drove hard and converted an and-one, then freshman
Kayla Beaudoin (Brunswick, NY/Tamarac) knocked down a jump shot at 5:52. Oneonta were unable to get closer as Cortland took a 50-40 lead into the fourth.
Cortland used the start of the fourth for an 11-1 stretch that gave them a 61-41 lead with 4:05 to play. Oneonta outscored Cortland, 8-4, in the final moments of the game, but the deficit was too large to overcome. The team's final stretch had freshmen
Tyalia Fret-Thom (Poughkeepsie, NY/Roy C. Ketcham) and
Skye Cameron-Pressley (New Rochelle, NY/New Rochelle) each score a driving layup, while Boucher and Desrats both drained two at the line.
Oneonta shot 34.0 percent from the field, while they came up short in 13 three-point attempts, and went 72.2 percent (13-for-18) at the free throw line. Cortland went 43.9 percent from the floor, 26.3 percent (5-for-19) from deep, and 76.9 percent (10-for-13) from the line. Cortland finished with a 38-29 rebounding edge and a 17-6 margin in points off turnovers.
Cortland had four players score double figures. Brooke Tillotson and Jackie Funk both scored the team-high 13 points, Sophie Bissaillon had 12 and Joleen Lush finished with 11.
Eckert finished with seven points and three rebounds, while Young recorded six points and six rebounds. Both Boucher and Fret-Thom totaled four points. The game marks the end of the careers for Boucher and team manager, Kira Myers.
Oneonta ended the sesaon with a 15-12 record and made it to the conference semifinals for the first time since the 2022-23 season.
