PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Despite a strong third quarter that saw the Plattsburgh State women's basketball team draw within three points of The Sage Colleges in the Cardinal Classic championship game on Sunday at Memorial Hall, the Cardinals fell, 57-49.
 
Sage captured the Cardinal Classic title, with junior guard/forward Genevieve Schoff taking home Tournament MVP honors. The remainder of the All-Tournament Team included senior guards Monique Jones (Freeport, N.Y./Freeport) and Jax Miller (Argyle, N.Y./Argyle) from Plattsburgh State, senior guard Frankie Pearson from Sage and junior guard Emily Nicholson from the University of Southern Maine.
 
Plattsburgh State drops to 2-1 overall with the loss and next visits St. Lawrence University on Tuesday, Nov. 29, for a 6 p.m. non-conference contest. Sage rises to 2-1 overall with the win and next visits the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 6 p.m.
 
The two teams traded points to begin the game, but Sage closed the first quarter on a 6-1 run to take an 18-10 lead through 10 minutes of play. Plattsburgh State battled back with a 7-3 spurt of its own early in the second, and a free throw by Jones cut the deficit to four at 21-17. Sage, however, swelled the advantage as high as 10 points and ended up taking a 31-23 lead into the halftime intermission.
 
Buckets on back-to-back possessions by freshman forward Frannie Merkel (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) and Jones to start the third quarter once again pulled the Cardinals within four, and while Sage ballooned its cushion to nine points, the Cardinals kept chipping away. A 3-pointer by Miller just before the buzzer made it a three-point game heading into the final regulation period.
 
Both teams held each other scoreless for the first 3:45 of the fourth quarter until Schoff cashed in on a layup. That kick started a 7-0 Gator run, which ultimately proved to be the difference in the contest. Plattsburgh State did score on layups by freshman guard Sarah Bonner (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) and Miller to draw within six with 2:14 to go in regulation, but Sage held tough and came up with defensive stops when it needed them to preserve the victory.
 
The Gators finished with a 43-42 edge in rebounds and won despite being limited to 27.7 percent (18-of-65) shooting from the floor. Sage did, however, sink 15 of 22 free-throw attempts to finish the afternoon with a 68.2 percent clip from the line, and the Gators forced the Cardinals into 18 turnovers. Plattsburgh State shot 35.2 percent (19-of-54) from the floor on the game.
 
Miller fell just one point shy of a career high with 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the floor. Freshman forward Becca Mahon (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Arlington) made an impact in just her third career game as a Cardinal, pulling down 11 rebounds while adding six points. Jones once again served as Plattsburgh State's Swiss Army knife, totaling eight points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
 
For Sage, Schoff led the way with a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double, while Pearson and sophomore guard/forward Kaitlyn Bowman added 14 and 13 points, respectively. Schoff also came up with three blocks, including a key rejection with under two minutes in regulation that thwarted a potential 3-point opportunity for the Cardinals.

Southern Maine downed Southern Vermont College, 71-43, in the Cardinal Classic consolation game.