FREDONIA, N.Y. – Despite a spectacular third quarter, the Plattsburgh State women's basketball team fell to Fredonia on Saturday afternoon 60-57 in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play. The Cards erased a 12-point halftime deficit, leading by as many as seven points in the second half, but were unable to fend off the Blue Devils in the fourth quarter.
 
Payton Couture (Redford, N.Y./Saranac) had a game-high 15 points, pulling down seven rebounds, and dishing out three helpers over 31 minutes of action. Izzy Wilbur (Red Creek, N.Y./Red Creek) had 14 points off the bench, as the sophomore guard hit four three-pointers in the third-quarter surge that saw the Cards retake the lead and erase a double-digit halftime deficit. Kortney McCarthy(Peru, N.Y./Peru) was also key in the third-period surge, netting 13 points over the whole game and collecting three steals in 34 minutes off the bench. Renee Park matched Couture's game-high 15 points, also grabbing six boards and recording four assists, while Sarah Seaman had 14 points and hit four three-pointers.
 
Plattsburgh had a poor first-half shooting, combining for 23% shooting between the first two quarters while missing all seven of their three-point attempts. The second half saw an explosion in the third quarter as they went 6-8 from deep and 10-17 (58.8%) from the field. Overall, the team was 34.4% from the field and 33.3% from deep, while shooting 6-10 from the charity stripe. Fredonia shot just a hair better from the field at 35%, made four more three-pointers (11-33) for the same percentage, and was 7-8 from the line.
 
The Cardinals fall to 6-9 with the loss and 2-6 in SUNYAC play, snapping a three-game winning streak to open up the new year. The team will be back in action in Memorial Hall on Jan. 20 at 5 p.m. versus Brockport as they continue league play. Fredonia moves 4-11 with the win, picking up their first league win to move to 1-9 in conference play. The Blue Devils' next matchup with Buffalo State on Friday, Jan. 20 for a local western New York action. 
 
The first quarter started very slow for Plattsburgh State as they missed their first 15 shots of the game before Imani Walcott (Albany, N.Y./Albany) got the first field goal of the game to go for the Cards with 24 seconds to go. Trailing 12-3 after the first period, the Card's offense got going in the second quarter thanks to Walcott, who had two early lay-ins as Plattsburgh looked to gain some rhythm. The period was played in very close fashion, however, and the Cardinals could not make up any of the deficit, heading into the break down 27-15. 
 
Plattsburgh came out firing in the third quarter, scoring eight answered points off of McCarthy and Wilbur's back-to-back three-pointers and a Couture layup put the team down just eight points early in the quarter. The Cards continued their hot shooting, as McCarthy knocked down another three, Wilbur hit three more, and Couture knocked one down at the 2:47 mark to give Plattsburgh their first lead of the game. The team built their lead up to seven, as Wilbur connected on a trey with 36 seconds to go up 43-36 heading into the fourth. The Blue Devils clawed back in the game, however, starting the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run to retake the lead. The remaining minutes were tightly contested, as the game was tied with 46 seconds to go. After a Cardinal miss, Fredonia regained possession and Laurell Brown hit a three-pointer with four seconds to go. Plattsburgh was then unable to inbound the basketball, turning it over as the Blue Devils then ran out the clock for the win.