Despite having four players in double figures, the Oneonta State women's basketball team fell in its season opener to Western Connecticut State 60-58. Sophomore Kristin Pappalardo (Mahopac/Lakeland) led Oneonta with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field that included two from long range.
A Madison Slagle (Rome/Rome Catholic) three-pointer gave Oneonta a 39-36 lead at the 16:27 mark of the second half. Western Connecticut countered with eight unanswered that included back-to-back three-pointers by Carly Murphy and Nicole Eanniello that gave the Colonials the lead for good.
Trailing by seven with just under three minutes to go in the game, the Red Dragons made a run and got to within two points at 55-53 on a Pappalardo lay-up. The Colonials made two free throws to go back up by four before sophomore Alyshia Crawford (Oxford/Oxford) made a jumper with seven seconds left to bring Oneonta back to within two points at 57-55.
After a pair of free throws by Eanniello, Pappalardo drained a three with .2 seconds left to make the score 59-58. Stephanie Slonski made 1-of-2 free throws and the clock expired on the rebound for the final of 60-58.
Oneonta trailed at the break 34-28. The Colonials hit seven of its 11 three-point shots to keep Oneonta at bay. Western Connecticut shot 48 percent from the field including 70 percent from behind the arc.
Pappalardo led Oneonta with six points on the strength of two long range bombs. The Red Dragons shot an even 50 percent in the opening half including 4-of-8 from downtown.
Slagle, sophomore Grace Schilling (Northport/Northport) and senior Samantha Szkotak (New York Mills/New York Mills) all scored 10 points each in the game. Szkotak added a game-high eight rebounds to go with five assists and two steals.
The Colonials had three players reach double figures led by freshman Amber Litwinko, who had 12 points in 23 minutes.
Oneonta will travel to New Jersey this weekend to play in the Cougar Classic hosted by Kean University. Oneonta will face at Lewis & Clark at 3pm.
Newspaper Box Score
WESTERN CONN STATE 60, ONEONTA STATE 58
WESTERN CONN STATE (1-0)
Amber Litwinko 5-8 0-0 12; Stephanie Slonski 4-6 2-6 11; Chelsea Mone 4-11 0-2 10; Nicole Eanniello 2-10 4-6 9; Carly Murphy 2-5 3-4 9; Sciarra Brandt 2-5 0-0 6; Jackie Zilnicki 1-8 0-1 3; Melissa DiNino 0-0 0-0 0; Taylor Nkonoki 0-1 0-0 0; Caroline Brasa 0-3 0-0 0; Kristin Mooney 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-57 9-19 60.
ONEONTA STATE (0-1)
PAPPALARDO, Kristin 5-8 2-3 15; SLAGLE, Madison 4-11 0-0 10; SCHILLING, Grace 4-5 2-6 10; SZKOTAK, Samantha 4-10 2-2 10; LONGTO, Sarah 2-6 0-2 4; CRAWFORD, Alyshia 1-2 2-2 4; REGAN, Gabi 1-2 0-0 3; MULLIGAN, Kelly 1-1 0-0 2; PONESSE, Kaitlyn 0-0 0-0 0; WELYTOK, Ashley 0-0 0-0 0; WILVERDING, Kate 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-46 8-15 58.
3-point goals--Western Conn State 11-26 (Chelsea Mone 2-6; Carly Murphy 2-3; Sciarra Brandt 2-3; Amber Litwinko 2-4; Nicole Eanniello 1-4; Stephanie Slonski 1-1; Jackie Zilnicki 1-3; Taylor Nkonoki 0-1; Caroline Brasa 0-1), Oneonta State 6-14 (PAPPALARDO, Kristin 3-4; SLAGLE, Madison 2-6; REGAN, Gabi 1-1; WILVERDING, Kate 0-1; SZKOTAK, Samantha 0-2).
Fouled out—Western Conn State-None, Oneonta State-None.
Rebounds--Western Conn State 30 (Jackie Zilnicki 4; Amber Litwinko 4; Sciarra Brandt 4; Chelsea Mone 4; Carly Murphy 4), Oneonta State 42 (SZKOTAK, Samantha 8).
Assists--Western Conn State 12 (Stephanie Slonski 5), Oneonta State 14 (SZKOTAK, Samantha 5).
Total fouls--Western Conn State 15, Oneonta State 19.
Technical fouls—Western Conn State-None, Oneonta State-None.
A-109