ONEONTA, N.Y.—Senior Mary Kate O'Connell (Altamont, Guilderland) sank two free throws with nine seconds remaining to give SUNY Oneonta a 56-53 lead and then defended one last opportunity from Oswego that went in-and- out as the Red Dragons prevailed tonight in SUNYAC action. The win for Oneonta keeps them in a first place tie in the conference at 5-0 while raising its overall record to 11-1. The loss for the Lakers drops them to 5-6 overall and 1-2 in the SUNYAC.

Oneonta stormed out of halftime, putting together a 12-2 run in the opening five minutes to open up a 14-point lead at 44-30. Junior Madison Slagle (Rome, Rome Catholic) hit a pair of three-point shots to fuel the run. Slagle led all scorers in the contest with 17 points.

Oneonta still held a comfortable lead at 52-38 at the 9:35 mark after a free throw by freshman Kelly Mulligan (Pearl River, Pearl River). It was at that point that the Lakers began a 15-2 run that saw them claw their way back to one point at 54-53 with 30 seconds remaining.

Jenna Rossi committed a foul to stop the clock, which put freshman Grace Schilling at the line for a 1-and-1. She missed the front end and Oswego grabbed the rebound and came down for its offensive possession. The Lakers were able to work the ball inside to senior Colleen McCready, who had a look at a lay up that went in and out. The rebound went to O'Connell who was immediately fouled sending her to the line for her 1-and-1, which she converted.

The first half saw five ties and eight lead changes as both teams went at each other playing solid defense throughout the twenty minutes. Oswego shot a little better from the floor, 45 percent to 36 percent for Oneonta.

The Red Dragons forced 13 turnovers and converted them into 13 points while its bench held a 15-10 advantage in the opening half. Leading the charge was senior Erika Puffer (Unadilla, Unatego), who came off the bench to score nine of the 12 points she scored in the game.

The Lakers had four players reach double figures in the loss led by junior Kayla Ryan, who had 15 points.

Oneonta is on the road this weekend as they travel west to Rochester to take on Geneseo and Brockport in back-to-back conference games.

Newspaper Box Score
ONEONTA STATE 56, OSWEGO 53

OSWEGO (5-6/2-2)
RYAN, Kayla 5-16 4-4 15; ROSSI, Jenna 5-13 1-2 12; BACON, Traci 3-5 2-2 11; McCREADY, Colleen 3-5 4-4 10; STOVER, Meagan 1-1 0-0 2; SANCHEZ, Wanda 0-0 2-2 2; EGELSTON, Paula 0-1 1-2 1; NUNZIATO, Lauren 0-1 0-0 0; KIPPER, Karolyn 0-1 0-0 0; SMITH, Taryn 0-0 0-0 0; DIGLIO, Kristen 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 17-49 14-16 53.

ONEONTA STATE (11-1/5-0)
SLAGLE, Madison 6-17 2-3 17; PUFFER, Erika 4-11 4-7 12; SZKOTAK, Samantha 3-9 0-2 6; BUCCI, Rebecca 2-4 0-0 6; MULLIGAN, Kelly 2-4 1-2 5; O'CONNELL, Mary Kate 0-3 4-4 4; REGAN, Gabi 1-4 0-0 2; SCHILLING, Grace 1-5 0-1 2; WELYTOK, Ashley 1-2 0-0 2; CRAWFORD, Alyshia 0-0 0-0 0; RUFER, Lisa 0-0 0-0 0; PAPPALARDO, Kristin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-59 11-19 56.

3-point goals--Oswego 5-21 (BACON, Traci 3-3; ROSSI, Jenna 1-7; RYAN, Kayla 1-4; NUNZIATO, Lauren 0-1; KIPPER, Karolyn 0-1; DIGLIO, Kristen 0-5), Oneonta State 5-15 (SLAGLE, Madison 3-8; BUCCI, Rebecca 2-4; SZKOTAK, Samantha 0-2; PUFFER, Erika 0-1).

Fouled out--Oswego-None, Oneonta State-None.

Rebounds--Oswego 39 (McCREADY, Colleen 9), Oneonta State 37 (PUFFER, Erika 9).

Assists--Oswego 9 (ROSSI, Jenna 3), Oneonta State 7 (BUCCI, Rebecca 4).

Total fouls--Oswego 18, Oneonta State 15.

Technical fouls--Oswego-None, Oneonta State-None.

A-136