Women’s Basketball (20-6/13-5)
Feb. 18th vs. New Paltz, W 71-61
Junior
Madison Slagle (Rome, Rome Catholic)scored 17 points to lead three players in double figures as SUNY Oneonta pulled away from visiting New Paltz down the stretch to win its regular season finale last Friday.
Oneonta trailed 28-26 at halftime and stormed out of the locker room 11-2 run to seize the lead. A jumper by junior
Samantha Szkotak (New York Mills, New York Mills) gave the Red Dragons its largest lead of the game at 37-28.
Oneonta still had a seven-point lead with 11:23 to go before the Hawks began to claw their way back into the contest. A 7-2 run cut Oneonta’s lead to 46-44 at the 9:21 mark. New Paltz continued its surge and actually took a 51-50 lead on a steal and lay-up with 6:54 to go.
With the score tied at 53 apiece, a pair of free throws by Szkotak gave the Red Dragons a lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the way. Down the stretch Oneonta pulled away on the strength of free throws and some key shots.
After a 2-0 lead by Oneonta to start the game, the Hawks ran off nine unanswered to take a 9-2 lead. Oneonta battled back to tie the game at 9 apiece at the 12:07 mark on a basket by freshman
Grace Schilling (Northport, Northport).
With the scored tied at 15, Oneonta put together a 9-2 run of its own to take a 24-17 lead with 4:25 remaining in the first half. New Paltz countered with nine straight points to regain the lead, which they took into halftime.
Senior
Erika Puffer (Unadilla, Unatego) scored 10 points and freshman
Kristin Pappalardo (Mahopac, Lakeland) added 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers for Oneonta.
Feb. 22nd vs. Plattsburgh, W 68-53 (SUNYAC Tournament Quarterfinals)
Senior
Rebecca Bucci (Marlboro, Our Lady of Lourdes) had a game high 16 points and nine rebounds in leading SUNY Oneonta to a 68-53 win over Plattsburgh in the SUNYAC tournament quarterfinals. The win for the Red Dragons was its 20th of the season as they sit at 20-6.
The win last Tuesday night was also head coach Daphne Thompson’s 300th of her collegiate head coaching career. Thompson is currently in her fourth season with Oneonta and she has led the program to 20 wins for a third time. She spent 15 years as the head coach at Hartwick before taking the job at Oneonta. She is now 300-192 overall.
The visitors would not go away easily as the game looked in control of the hosts at many times throughout the game. It wasn’t until Oneonta ran off eight unanswered points to put the game away with just over two minutes remaining in the game. The nail in the coffin was a three-point basket by Bucci at the 2:08 mark that gave the Red Dragons a 64-50 lead.
Joining Bucci in double figures tonight was freshman Pappalardo and junior Szkotak who scored 13 points and 12 points respectively.
Oneonta scored 13 unanswered points during the next four minutes to take a 17-9 lead. Pappalardo capped the run with a jumper at 8:17.
Plattsburgh came back to cut the lead to four points before Oneonta built its lead back to eight points at 26-18 with just over four minutes to go.
A layup by Plattsburgh at 1:02 cut Oneonta’s lead to 30-28, but a jumper by senior
Mary Kate O'Connell (Altamont, Guilderland) with 11 seconds gave the Red Dragons a 32-28 lead that they would carry into halftime.
Oneonta will now play this Friday evening at 6:00 p.m. against New Paltz, who defeated Oswego tonight in its quarterfinal, 69-54. The game will be at Geneseo, who held on to the top seed by blowing out Brockport tonight, 74-33. Geneseo will play Cortland at 8:00 p.m. in the second semifinal game.
Men’s Basketball (9-17/8-10)
Feb. 18th vs. New Paltz, W 78-66
Senior
Troy Talbot (Brooklyn, The School for Legal Studies) scored 21 points to lead four Red Dragons in double figures last Friday night as SUNY Oneonta clinched a SUNYAC tournament berth with its 78-66 win against New Paltz.
Oneonta started pulling away in this one early in the second half when they turned its 10-point halftime lead into a 15-point lead in the first two minutes of the second half. A three-pointer by
Brian Hooks (Cohoes, Shaker) gave Oneonta a 35-20 lead. Hooks, who is the program’s all-time leader in three-point baskets, finished with 11 points tonight.
The Red Dragons maintained its double-digit lead and built to as many as 19 points on a pair of free throws by Talbot at the 9:43 mark.
New Paltz made the game interesting and cut Oneonta’s lead back to 10 points at 63-53 on a pair of free throws at the 7:16 mark.
An 8-2 run by Oneonta over the next four minutes put the game out of reach for the Hawks.
Seniors
Derek Hahn (Youngsville, Sullivan West) and
Shane Gillette (Hurley, Kingston) each scored in double figures with 13 points and 12 points respectively. Hahn also added 17 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season.
Feb. 22nd at Brockport, L 75-84 (SUNYAC Tournament Quarterfinals)
SUNY Oneonta had three players in double figures, but a second half comeback came up short last Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the SUNYAC tournament at Brockport. The Red Dragons fell to the Golden Eagles 84-75 to end its season 9-17 overall.
Oneonta made an early run in the second half to cut into an 11 points halftime deficit. A jumper by senior Talbot at 17:47 made the score 47-40.
A dunk by senior Hahn three minutes later brought Oneonta to within two points at 51-49. Hahn, who spent most of the first half on the bench after picking up two quick fouls, scored 12 points in the second half to finish with 14 to go with 15 boards. It was Hahn’s 13th double-double of the season. Hahn finishes his collegiate career with 1,063 points and over 700 rebounds.
Brockport countered with seven unanswered to go back up by nine points with 13 minutes left in the game. Oneonta could only get as close as four points the rest of the way.
Talbot led Oneonta with 18 points and classmate Hooks finished with 12 points. Hooks, who is the all-time leader in three-point baskets finishes his career with an even 200 three-pointers.
Brockport started the game by scoring the first nine points before a pair of free throws by Hahn got Oneonta on the scoreboard.
The Golden Eagles built its lead to 14 points at 20-6 before Oneonta began to chip away. A free throw by Talbot capped a 15-5 run by Oneonta that cut Brockport’s lead to 25-19.
Women’s Track & Field
Feb. 23rd at NYU Team Challenge, 1st place with 113 points
Sophomore
Kacy Boburka (Binghamton, Chenango Valley) highlighted another strong weekend for the women’s track & field program. She hit the NCAA provisional mark in leading her team last Saturday.
Boburka was at it again in the high jump inching her way higher on the qualifying list for the NCAA Championships in leading the women’s team to a first place team finish with 114 points. She took a second place finish in the event with an NCAA provisional qualifying height of 1.70 meters (5’7”), currently putting her third in Div. III. She also finished second in the long jump with a leap of 5.06m (16’7 ¼”) for an indoor personal best.
Senior
Liz Maziejka (Fort Edward, Hudson Falls) was also a top performer for the Red Dragons with a first place finish in the 400-meter dash with an ECAC qualifying time of 58.77. Later that day she came back to place fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.13.
Junior
Lauren Brunetto (Fishkill, Beacon) was a big points contributor for the women in the day’s challenge. She started off placing fourth with a time of 5:12.86 in the women’s mile and came back and placed second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:16.81.
It all came down to the women’s 4x400 meter relay. The quartet of senior
Kristan Catanese (Baldwin, Kellenberg memorial), sophomores
Carolyn Nasr (LaGrangeville, Arlington) and
Kaitlyn Colligan (Baldwinsville, C.W. Baker), and senior
Connie Belkevich (Ticonderoga, Ticonderoga) finished in 4th with a time of 4:11.44 to help defeat the University of Rochester by one point.
Men’s Track & Field
Feb. 23rd at NYU Team Challenge, 5th place with 71 points
Senior
Durell Cull (Rome, Rome Free Academy) highlighted another strong weekend for the men’s track & field program. He hit NCAA provisional mark in leading his team.
Cull hit the NCAA provisional time competing in the 60-meter dash as the men finished fifth with 71 points on the day. He took first place in the 60m in an NCAA provisional time of 6.95. Later that day he came away with a second place finish in the 200-meter dash running a time of 22.43.
Junior
Sean Wren (Delanson, Duanesburg) was the top Red Dragon in the men’s 400-meter dash. His time of 49.47 qualified him for the ECAC Championships and was good enough for a second place finish. Later that day he finished in 12th in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.64.
In the men’s 800, senior
Sean Daly (Weedsport, Weedsport) just beat sophomore
Nate Weber (LaFayette, Tully) for fifth and sixth place finishes respectively. Daly’s time of 1:57.59 just squeaked past Weber who ran a time of 1:57.60. Both Red Dragons teamed up with freshman
Tom Haskins (Tully, Tully) and senior
Mark Gymburch (Rome, Rome Free Academy) to run the men’s 4x400 meter relay. The men finished in second with a time of 3:27.66 just behind University of Rochester.
Sophomore
Nick Madison (Oneonta, Oneonta) finished in fifth place in the 3000-meter run with a time of 8:50.44 just over the qualifying time for the ECAC Championships with hopes to hit it next week.
In the field events, sophomore
Dustin Cox (Pulaski, Pulaski) captured the high jump with a height of 1.93 meters, junior
Chris Rollo (Clarence, Clarence) placed 9th, throwing 12.26 meters in the men’s shot put, and junior
Greg Humbert (Staten Island, Susan E Wagner) tossed the 35-lbs. weight 12.78 meters to place 6th. Each of the three athletes hit the SUNYAC qualifying mark in their respective events.
