Houghton, NY – The women's basketball team battled point for point with host Houghton College, but a late second half run sparked the Highlanders to a 58-50 victory in the season opening contest for both teams on Saturday. The first half was back-and-forth with neither team leading by more than six points. The Roos opened up their largest lead of the game at four (18-14) after a pair of Karyss Terrance (Hogansburg, NY) makes from the charity stripe with 5:52 left in the opening half.
The Highlanders responded with a 10-0 run over the next four minutes and took a 24-20 lead into intermission. Terrance led the Roos with eight points and six rebounds in the opening half but had three personal fouls, which would prove costly later in the game.
Brianna Sayer finished with 8 points, 5 assists and just 1 turnover against the Highlanders.
SUNY Canton knotted the game at 25 all after CaseyLynn Fulton (Saint Cloud, MN) knocked down a pair of jumpers early in the second half. There would be three more ties in a seesaw battle in the second half. Despite Terrance committing back-to-back fouls with just more than 12 minutes remaining and fouling out, the Roos held a 43-42 advantage with 9:05 remaining after Brianna Sayer (Hermon, NY) converted a bucket in the paint.
After a basket from Houghton's Christel Enriquez, Megan Morrow (Gouverneur, NY) responded hitting on a jump shot set up by Sayer to regain the 45-44 advantage, but that would be SUNY Canton's final lead of the game.
The Highlanders used an 8-0 run to take a seven-point lead with three and half minutes remaining and held off the Roos down the stretch. Houghton controlled the glass 54-33, while SUNY Canton had a 13-9 edge in bench points.
The women's basketball team returns to the hardwood on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. when it squares off with SUNY Polytechnic Institute. Stay up to date with the latest news directly from the SUNY Canton Athletics department by "liking" us on Facebook and "following" our Twitter, Instagram and YouTube accounts.
About SUNY Canton
SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and certificate programs. The college delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management and public service. Faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as eight exclusively online bachelor's degrees. The college's 14 athletic teams compete as provisional members of the NCAA Division III and the USCAA.