Cortland Overcomes 27-Point Deficit in OT Win at Medaille

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BUFFALO, N.Y. – Cortland rallied from a 27-point deficit with 13 minutes left in regulation to force overtime and the Red Dragons outscored host Medialle 17-4 in the extra session for a 89-76 non-league victory over the Lady Mavericks.

Senior Brittany Cohen led Cortland (4-0) with 25 points, six assists and five rebounds. Senior Molly Byrne finished with 13 points, five rebounds and three assists. Byrne made 3-for-4 three-pointers and Cohen hit 3-of-6 treys and 7-of-11 total shots from the field.

Sophomore Megan Touhey added 12 points and five rebounds and senior Ally Biordi tallied 11 points. Freshman Tashia Morris chipped in with seven points and freshman Erin Wolstenholme led the Red Dragons with 10 rebounds. Cortland shot 50 percent from the field (31-of-62) and 39 percent from the three-point line (11-of-28).

Tanisha Travis led Medaille (1-2) with 22 points and 12 rebounds and Joelle Pollak amassed 17 points, five assists and seven rebounds. Brittney Rowland rang up 14 points and five assists and Morgan Howe scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds. Medaille led 39-28 at halftime and started the second half on a 27-11 run. Two Mary Bongiovanni free throws gave the Lady Mavericks a 66-39 lead with 13:02 remaining. Cortland, however, went on a 31-4 streak in less than an 11-minute span to tie the game.

Senior Micki Volpini started the comeback with six points on a three-pointer and a three-point play. Cohen and Byrne scored nine and eight points, respectively, out of Cortland's next 19 points. Cohen's two free throws with 6:35 left cut the Medaille lead to 68-61 and Byrne followed with a three-pointer about 30 seconds later to reduce the deficit to four. Wolstenholme blocked a shot with 5:46 left and Touhey hit a layup shortly thereafter to make it a two-point game. Touhey also hit a jumper with 4:09 left that drew the Red Dragons within one at 69-68.

Cortland finally tied the game at 70-70 on a Wolstenholme layup with 2:21 left in regulation. Medaille regained the lead with 1:03 left on a Travis layup – the host's first field field goal in more than 12 minutes – but Morris scored a layup off a Touhey feed with 49 seconds remaining to knot the game at 72-72. Medaille missed a three-pointer with 32 seconds left, and Byrne's potential game-winning three-pointer in the final seconds just missed the mark. Biordi's three-pointer 13 seconds into overtime gave Cortland its first lead of the game at 75-72. The Red Dragons were clinging to a 78-76 advantage after a Travis layup with 3:39 left, but the Red Dragons scored the final 11 points of the game on four Cohen free throws, a Wolstenholme three-pointer, a Touhey layup and two Biordi foul shots.

Cortland travels to Ithaca College for a non-league game on Tuesday, Nov. 29, at 6 p.m.