Feb 11, 2020
ONEONTA, N.Y. – Cortland cut a 15-point deficit late in the third quarter to two points with less than five minutes remaining but the comeback fell short in a 69-64 SUNYAC women's basketball loss at Oneonta.
Olivia Allrich led Oneonta (8-12, 5-8 SUNYAC) with 17 points and added six rebounds. Leanne Corso recorded a double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds, Clara Culeton finished with 12 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, and Maya Bernsley contributed 12 points and six boards.
Beth Bonin (Cicero/Cicero-North Syracuse) finished with 25 points, including four 3-pointers, along with four steals and five rebounds for Cortland (17-3, 11-2 SUNYAC). Nyia Longford (Medford/Longwood) scored 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds, Meghan Flanagan (Rochester/Brighton) scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds, and Sarah Tully (East Aurora) led Cortland with 12 rebounds and scored seven points. Shannon McGuire (West Babylon) finished with a game-high seven assists.
Cortland struggled offensively, hitting just 27 percent of its shots overall and 29 percent (7-for-24) from the 3-point arc. Oneonta ended at 35 percent overall and 44 percent (7-for-16) from downtown. Both teams excelled at the foul line – Cortland was 17-for-22 and Oneonta went 18-for-20, including six straight makes in the final 39 seconds to clinch the win.
Oneonta led 13-11 after one quarter and extended its lead to 32-22 at the half after scoring seven of the last nine points in the second quarter. The hosts led by 15 points twice in the third quarter, the latter at 52-37 on an Allrich layup with 42 seconds remaining.
Cortland was down 13 entering the fourth but closed the gap to seven less than three minutes into the fourth. Oneonta went up by 10 at 57-47 with 4:59 left on an Allrich trey, but Cortland needed only 38 seconds to cut that margin to two. Bonin hit a 3-pointer and, following her steal, hit a three off a McGuire feed. Bonin got another steal to lead to an uncontested layup and Cortland trailed 57-55 with 4:21 remaining.
Cortland fell down by six with 3:07 left, but got back to within two once more at 61-59 on two Casey Travers (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) free throws with 1:24 on the clock. Casey Hayes hit a jumper at the 1:02 mark to put Oneonta up by four, and Hayes blocked two shots on Cortland's next possession.
Allrich was fouled and made two free throws with 39 seconds left. Bonin's 3-pointer made it 65-62 with 28 seconds left, but Bernsley sank two foul shots six seconds later. Bonin was fouled and made two free throws with 16 seconds left, but Corso made two free throws with 13 seconds left and Cortland missed a shot on its final possession.
Cortland will host Potsdam Friday at 5:30 p.m.