Jan 26, 2019
CORTLAND, N.Y. – Cortland outscored Fredonia 24-6 in the second quarter to take a 10-point halftime lead and the Red Dragons never trailed in the second half of their 61-52 women's basketball win over visiting Fredonia.
Cortland (9-9, 5-6 SUNYAC) has won its last four league games and is now in a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference along with Fredonia (8-10, 5-6 SUNYAC) and Plattsburgh.
Kristy Vitucci (Deer Park) led Cortland with 21 points and also pulled down four rebounds. She hit five of her 11 attempts from the 3-point arc. Tanna Mohammed (Huntington/Elwood-John H. Glenn) hit her first three 3-point shots and finished with 11 points.
Shannon McGuire (West Babylon) finished with eight points, five rebounds, a career-high seven assists and a career-high tying four steals. Shana Crespo (Monroe/Monroe-Woodbury) also scored eight points and added four rebounds, and Meghan Flanagan (Rochester/Brighton) led the Red Dragons with six rebounds.
Jenna Einink led Fredonia with 17 points, 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. Anna Chiacchia registered nine points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocks and Sydney Turley chipped in with eight points and a team-high five assists.
Fredonia led 11-2 about six minutes into the game and held an 18-10 lead after one quarter. Cortland whittled the deficit to two at 20-18 on a Mohammed 3-pointer with 7:13 left in the second, then took the lead just over a minute later on a six-point possession. Vitucci hit a 3-pointer with 5:55 left and was fouled after the shot, giving Cortland the ball back out of bounds. Just five seconds later Vitucci hit another trey and the Red Dragons led 24-20.
Leading 25-24, Cortland went on a 9-0 run over the final 3:07 of the half. Flanagan started the streak with a layup, followed by two Vitucci free throws, a McGuire 3-point play, and a Mohammed layup off an inbounds play.
Fredonia did cut an 11-point third-quarter deficit to three points twice in the period and was still down by only six with 7:53 left in the game after a Chiacchia 3-pointer. Cortland went back up 11 on a Vitucci jumper with 5:43 remaining and a Crespo 3-point play at the 5:03 mark, and the lead was nine or better the rest of the contest.
Cortland will host Oneonta Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.