Nov 12, 2019
CORTLAND, N.Y. – Cortland outscored Hartwick 31-8 in the third quarter to pull away from a halftime tie and the Red Dragons defeated the visiting Hawks, 79-56, to open the 2019-20 season.
Beth Bonin (Cicero/Cicero-North Syracuse) led four Cortland double-figure scorers with 23 points and also recorded four assists, four steals and four rebounds. She was 9-of-16 shooting from the floor overall and 4-for-6 from 3-point range.
Sarah Tully (East Aurora) and Shannon McGuire (West Babylon) finished with 14 points each and Nyia Longford (Medford/Longwood) scored 10 points. Tully led the team with seven rebounds and Longford grabbed five boards. McGuire finished with a game-high five assists and hit 6-of-10 shots, including two 3-pointers.
Maggie Kirby and Mary Schoenherr led Hartwick (0-2) with 13 points each. Schoenherr also had a game-high nine rebounds. Giuliana Pritchard added 11 points and seven boards.
Hartwick opened the game with a 10-2 lead less than five minutes in and was up 17-12 after one quarter. The Hawks' lead grew to as much as 10 at 28-18 on a Schoenherr layup with 4:51 left in the half. Cortland, however, finished the period on a 13-3 run that included both of McGuire's 3-pointers and a tying 3-pointer by Casey Travers (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) with 1:06 left. Travers finished with six points on two 3-pointers.
Cortland took its first lead on Bonin's layup 13 seconds into the third quarter and never trailed from that point. Longford scored all 10 of her points and Bonin netted nine points during the period as the Red Dragons extended their lead to as much as 25 points before ending the quarter up 23 at 62-39. Hartwick was no closer than 18 the remaining 10 minutes.
Cortland shot 50 percent in the second half (18-for-36) and finished at 46 percent from the floor. Hartwick shot 44 percent in the first half but cooled off to 28 percent after halftime to finish at 35 percent. The Red Dragons held a 29-10 advantage in points off of turnovers as the Hawks gave the ball away 21 times compared to 13 for Cortland.
Cortland returns to action Friday at SUNY Purchase for a 6 p.m. non-league game. The contest is part of a doubleheader with Cortland's men's team, which opens its season versus Purchase at 8 p.m.