ONEONTA, NY – The Hartwick women's basketball team ran close with another 2020 NCAA Tournament team on Tuesday, this time coming out on top against SUNY Cortland in Lambros Arena by a 55-49 score. The win boosts the Hawks to 3-1 on the young campaign, while the Red Dragons are now 1-2.
Giuliana Pritchard (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam) started the night's scoring with a three-pointer in the first minute, assisted by Mikyla Mitchell (Glenville, NY/Mekeel Christian Academy). Cortland would tie it up and grab a 9-6 advantage on Nyia Longford's jumper with 1:14 to go, but four more Pritchard points (two free throws and a lay-up) gave 'Wick a 10-9 lead after one.
Daniella DeBiase (Staten Island, NY/Xaverian) extended that lead to three on a fast-break lay-up after Maggie Kirby's (Selkirk, NY/Bethlehem) steal on the second quarter's first possession. Longford scored five straight points a few minutes later for a 16-13 Cortland lead, although Isabella Astorino (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) immediately cut that back down to two on a jumper, with Bree Fargnoli (Binghamton, NY/Chenango Forks) on the assist. A Mitchell fast-break lay-up on the next Hartwick possession followed by Pritchard from deep a minute-and-a-half later stretched 'Wick's lead to four at 20-16. Hartwick's lead was at five after Fargnoli's lay-up on the break with 34 seconds left, but Casey Travers found Maggie Malone for a buzzer-beating lay-up to set the score at 24-21 in favor of the Hawks at the break. The Red Dragons had an ugly first half from beyond the arc, shooting just 1-of-18 from three.
The teams went back and forth for the first chunk of the third quarter, with Hartwick's lead remaining at three points four-and-a-half minutes in. The Hawks were able to lengthen their lead a bit from there, as a 7-0 run that included a Mitchell three and Pritchard three-point play put them up 36-26. Cortland closed the gap a touch to end the period, with 'Wick up 39-33 after a half-hour had been played.
Malone converted an old-fashioned three-point play to start off the fourth, but Astorino responded in kind on the other end (although she missed the free throw). Two-plus minutes without any point were broken by a Longford free throw to cut the lead to 41-37. Hartwick was again able to extend their lead out to three possessions after a Mitchell three-point play, and eventually secured the win with made free throws down the stretch.
Pritchard was one off her career high with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting (including 2-of-2 from three) and six rebounds. Fargnoli led the Hawks with seven rebounds, and Mitchell had nine points, four rebounds, two steals, and an assist. Maggie Kirby accumulated five points, a game-high four assists, three rebounds, and two steals.
The Red Dragons dominated the rebounding battle tonight, with a 54-37 lead in the category overall and a massive 25-9 advantage on the offensive glass. That turned into a 19-6 lead in second chance points, which is not as large as one might expect. That is due in large part to the fact that Cortland was ice cold from the field, shooting 16-of-68 (23.5%) overall and a frigid 2-of-27 (7.4%) from three. The Hawks were red hot in comparison at 19-of-51 (37.3%) from the field and 4-of-9 (44.4%) from deep.
'Wick is back in action on Friday for the first day of the two-day Wesleyan Classic against the host Cardinals. That game will tip off at 6 p.m.
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