PLATTSBURGH, NY - In a tightly contested battle in Memorial, St. Lawrence came out on top over the Plattsburgh State women's basketball team 60-58. Plattsburgh was able to possess the ball twice down the stretch trailing by two points with under 20 seconds left, but a costly turnover and the inability to get a shot off helped the Saints take home the win. 

Mya Smith (Wappingers Falls, NY/Roy C. Ketcham) and Hannah Ruberto (Long Island, NY/Sachem East) each had a game-high 14 points, with Ruberto shooting 5-6 from the floor and adding six rebounds. Payton Couture (Redford, NY/Saranac) added 13 points for the Cards, also contributing seven rebounds, three blocks, and three steals in the loss. For the Saints, Cam Roberts came off the bench to lead the scoring effort, putting up 12 points and eight rebounds.

St. Lawrence shot 33.8% from the floor in the win and struggled from deep, shooting just 7-34 (20.6%) from downtown. Plattsburgh also struggled shooting the ball, going 29.5% from the floor (18-61) and making just one three-pointer. The team also left a lot of opportunities at the line, going 21-37 at the stripe for a 56.8% mark.

Plattsburgh moves to 2-2 with the loss and will travel to SUNY Canton on Saturday for non-conference action at 2 p.m. St. Lawrence rises to 2-1 with the win and will next travel to SUNY Potsdam for a non-conference match of their own. 

The Cardinals started off the game strong, using an 8-1 run by a Jaden Wilson (Johnstown, NY/Johnstown) jumper to jump out to a 16-8 lead to end the quarter. The Cards continued the scoring run, scoring four more points for a 12-1 run before St. Lawrence ended the scoring streak with a three-pointer by Jackie Malley. Couture capped the run with a put-back lay-in to make the score 20-8. However, turnovers would pile up for Plattsburgh towards the end of the period as the offense went cold, allowing the Saints to work back into the game. A 13-3 run to end the half gave St. Lawrence a 27-26 lead entering the break, as Hannah Van Dyke knocked down a jump shot to give the Saints their first lead since early in the first quarter. 

In the second half, the teams went back and forth for the final 20 minutes of action. An "and-one" opportunity from Smith gave the Cards their largest lead of the second half with just over three minutes to go, as Plattsburgh led 37-32 with 3:32 to go. Leading by two points heading into the fourth, the Saints were able to claw back in the game and hold a lead for the majority of the period. An Abby Doin jumper at the 7:14 mark gave St. Lawrence a one-point lead they would not give back to Plattsburgh for the remainder of regulation. After the Saints took a seven-point lead with under five minutes to go, a layup by Ruberto followed by a big three from Smith got the crowd back into it as the team pulled back to within one possession. 

The score eventually found itself at 58-56 St. Lawrence where it remained for almost a full minute of game action as the Cards missed a layup with 30 seconds left to knot the score. However, the Saints gifted the Cardinals another chance with two missed free throws and two missed put-back layups. After a timeout by Plattsburgh, a costly turnover gave the ball back to St. Lawrence where they seemingly iced the game with 12 seconds to go, but Ruberto made another shot to put the score at 60-58. After two more missed free throws, the ball went out of bounds off of St. Lawrence after an offensive rebound, gifting the Cards the ball back. As the clock winded down, however, the Cards were unable to get off a shot, falling to the Saints 60-58. 

Imani Walcott (Albany, NY/Albany) added 12 rebounds for the Cards in the loss.