PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - Cortland outscored Plattsburgh 17-1 in the first six and a half minutes of the fourth quarter to erase a 10-point deficit and the Red Dragons held on to defeat the Cardinals, 69-66, in SUNYAC action.
Cortland improved to 14-8 overall and 9-6 in the SUNYAC with three games remaining. The Red Dragons are in fifth place in the league standings, a half game ahead of Brockport (8-6) and a game and a half behind fourth-place Fredonia (11-5). The top six teams qualify for the league playoffs, with the top two teams earning byes and the third and fourth-place teams hosting first-round games.
Caysea Cohen (Stony Brook/Ward Melville) hit 6-of-9 shots from the 3-point arc and finished with a team-high 22 points. She also registered four rebounds, two assists and two steals. Kristy Vitucci (Deer Park) hit four of her seven 3-point attempts in a 12-point effort and Cassidy Chapko (Valley Falls/Hoosic Valley) made two treys and ended with 11 points and five assists. Alyssa Crosby (Brier Hill/Hammond) added six points and a team-best six rebounds for the Red Dragons.
Cortland finished 14-of-32 (44 percent) from the 3-point line. The 14 made 3-pointers are one shy of tying the school single-game record of 15 treys versus SUNYIT in the 2005-06 season.
Devona Paul led Plattsburgh (11-10, 5-9 SUNYAC) with 24 points, 11 rebounds and four assists. She connected on 6-of-9 field goals and all 12 of her free throws. Jax Miller scored 12 points on four 3-pointers and Misha Green chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds. Stephanie Linder and Monique Jones shared the team lead with Paul with four assists each.
Cortland trailed 34-28 at halftime and by as many as 11 points in the third quarter. Plattsburgh entered the fourth stanza up 53-43, but Annie Ulrich (Vestal) started the Cortland comeback with a layup with 9:44 remaining. Alaina Lynch (Staten Island/Staten Island Tech) hit a layup a little more than a minute later and, after one Plattsburgh free throw, Vitucci nailed a 3-pointer to bring the Red Dragons within four.
Chapko's shot in the lane cut the deficit to two with 6:18 left, and Cohen gave Cortland its first lead since 2-0 with a 3-pointer with 5:38 remaining. Vitucci's second 3-pointer of the quarter pushed the margin to four, and Ulrich completed the run with a layup at the 3:32 mark to give the Red Dragons a 60-54 advantage.
Plattsburgh closed to within three on a Green 3-point play, but Cohen hit a triple with 1:19 remaining to push the lead back to six. Miller's 3-pointer with 1:06 left again cut the Cortland lead to three. Plattsburgh fouled twice but Cortland was still not in the bonus with 44 seconds left. The Cardinals elected to play straight-up defense down three, but Crosby drew a foul with 15 seconds left and made both foul shots to give Cortland a 5-point lead.
Paul made two foul shots a couple of seconds later, and Chapko hit the second of her two attempts to make it a four-point game. Jones was fouled a second later and hit two free throws to pull Plattsburgh within 66-64. Cohen got fouled with eight seconds left and sank both charity tosses. Plattsburgh stayed alive when Jones hit a layup with two seconds left. Crosby was then fouled and made only the second of two attempts, but a desperation inbounds pass to halfcourt was picked off by Cohen to end the game.
Cortland will play at Potsdam on Saturday at 2 p.m.