Jan 05, 2020
CORTLAND, N.Y. – Beth Bonin (Cicero/Cicero-North Syracuse) and Nyia Longford (Medford/Longwood) each made crucial baskets in the final minute as Cortland held off Hamilton for a 76-71 non-league women's basketball victory.
The Red Dragons improved to 7-1 with the win and will host Wells College Monday at 6 p.m., while Hamilton fell to 10-3 with the loss.
Bonin hit a long 3-pointer with just over 46 seconds left to give Cortland a 74-68 lead. Hamilton's Marie Steiner answered with a traditional 3-point play on a jumper and free throw with 32.1 seconds left to cut the Red Dragons lead back to three. Hamilton elected to play defense instead of foul on Cortland's next possession. Bonin dribbled out much of the clock and then dished to Longford, who hit a short floater from the left baseline with 5.2 seconds left to seal the victory.
Bonin finished with 27 points, her highest as a Red Dragon, on 7-of-13 shooting from 3-point range. She also dished out three assists. Longford recorded a double-double with a career-high 15 points along with 11 rebounds, one short of her career best. She also matched her best with three assists and had a career-high three steals.
Casey Travers (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) tied her career high with 14 points. She made 4-of-6 shots from the arc and also blocked two shots. Sarah Tully (East Aurora) scored seven points and blocked two shots and Shannon McGuire (West Babylon) ended with five rebounds and four assists.
Carly O'Hern scored 25 points and grabbed five rebounds for Hamilton. Kayla Glemaud registered 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds and Marie Steiner tallied 10 points.
The teams were tied 20-20 after one quarter and Hamilton held a 37-33 lead at the half. Cortland opened the third quarter on a 16-2 run to start the third quarter to take its largest lead at 49-39 with 4:24 left in the period. Longford scored the first six points of the run, followed by a Tully laup and a Bonin 3-pointer. After an O'Hern basket, Bonin hit a layup and a 3-pointer to complete the streak.
The Continentals, however, finished the quarter on a 9-2 run and trailed 51-48 entering the fourth. Hamilton never took the lead in the fourth, but did tie the game four times in the final seven minutes, the last at 65-65 on an O'Hern 3-point play with four minutes left.
Travers scored off a feed from Bonin with 3:34 left to give Cortland the lead for good. The Red Dragons were clinging to a one-point lead when Longford was fouled and hit two free throws with 1:21 left. McGuire knocked the ball off a Hamilton player on a drive to the basket with 1:07 left to set up Bonin's and Longford's heroics in the closing moments.
Cortland shot 46 percent from the field overall and 50 percent (13-of-26) from 3-point range. Hamilton finished at 44 percent overall and 33 percent (5-for-15) from downtown. The guests hit 16-of-19 free throws compared to 9-of-14 for the host Red Dragons.