CORTLAND, N.Y. – Cortland's rally from an 11-point deficit in the final two and a half minutes fell just short as the Red Dragons lost to visiting Plattsburgh, 59-57, in a SUNYAC matchup. The Red Dragons are now 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the league.
Kathleen Payne led Plattsburgh (3-2, 1-1 SUNYAC) with 20 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Tequilla Lloyd made 7-of-9 shots and finished with 16 points and Brittany Marshall recorded seven points and eight assists. The win is Plattsburgh's first over Cortland since 2002 and its first road win ever versus the Red Dragons.
Junior Megan Touhey led Cortland with 16 points. She also finished with six rebounds and three assists. Sophomore Lindsey Minor totaled career bests of 12 points and five assists and matched her career high with five steals. She hit 5-of-7 shots from the field. Sophomore Erin Wolstenholme added eight points and three assists and sophomore Brooke DeMarco had six points and a game-high eight rebounds.
The Cardinals led 57-46 after a Payne three-pointer with 2:41 remaining. Wolstenholme hit a layup with 2:15 on the clock, and Minor's three-pointer with 1:36 left cut the deficit to six. Sophomore Brittany Rando hit a shot with just over a minute left to make it a four-point game, but Lloyd answered with a layup at the 53-second mark to put Plattsburgh up six.
Touhey converted a three-point play with 34 seconds left to reduce Plattsburgh's lead to 59-56. The Cardinals missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 24 seconds left, and DeMarco made the first of two free throws with 11 seconds remaining to bring Cortland within two.
Plattsburgh again missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with seven seconds left. Rando grabbed the rebound, raced up the court and shot a potential game-winning three-pointer in the final seconds that was online but didn't drop.
Plattsburgh led 31-22 at halftime, but Cortland eventually knotted the game at 38-38 on a Grace Williamson layup with 12:43 left. The Red Dragons never took the lead, however, although they were still down by only two with 7:18 left after two Rando foul shots. Lloyd hit two shots to start an 11-2 run that eventually resulted in the 11-point lead.
Cortland will play at Geneseo on Tuesday, Dec. 4, at 6 p.m.