PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. - The Plattsburgh State women's basketball team erased a 22-point halftime deficit, taking a late fourth-quarter lead, but fell as the horn sounded to Brockport in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play. After a layup was missed by Brockport, Zairea Hannah rebounded a put-back the miss as time expired, breaking a 68-68 tie and giving her team the victory.
Sophomore guard Izzy Wilbur (Red Creek, N.Y./Red Creek) was fantastic for the Cards in this one, as she posted a career-high 22 points to go along with five boards and two assists. She finished 6-14 from the field, knocking down three three-pointers, and also made 7-9 shots at the charity stripe. First-year guard Jaden Wilson (Johnstown, N.Y./Johnstown) also had a career night, putting up 14 points off the bench to give the team a much-needed scoring punch in the second half. Payton Couture (Redford, N.Y./Saranac) had a double-double for the Cardinals, posting 11 points and 10 boards in the loss. For Brockport, Anna Felice put together a 19-point performance in 21 minutes off the bench, hitting three three-pointers as well.
The Golden Eagles used hot three-point shooting to earn the win, starting the game off at 9-20 in the first half, before finishing the game 12-30 (40%) from deep. The team also went 10-12 from the line, whereas Plattsburgh struggled, going 15-27 from the stripe. The Cards were able to shoot a better clip from the field overall in this one, shooting 38% but struggled from distance (25%) until the fourth quarter when they hit three of five attempts.
Plattsburgh moves to 6-10 overall and 2-7 in SUNYAC play, as they look toward a matchup with Geneseo tomorrow at 2 pm in Memorial Hall. The Golden Eagles improve to 8-9 overall and 5-5 in league play and have a date with Potsdam tomorrow west of Plattsburgh at 2 pm.
The first half was a rough one for the Cards as the offense struggled to get any offense going and could not stop the three-point onslaught coming from Brockport. In the second quarter, the team was never closer than 16 points, with the Golden Eagles taking their largest lead of the game going into halftime with a 45-23 advantage.
In the second half, head coach Ben Sarraf implemented a full-court press that took Brockport out of their rhythm offensively and forced plenty of Golden Eagle turnovers. In the third quarter, it was evident it made a difference, as the Cards outscored Brockport by seven in the quarter and came within as close as 13 points.
Continuing with their full-court press into the fourth quarter, the Cards were able to slowly pull themselves right back into the game. Trailing 60-47, the team rattled off a 14-3 run, pulling to within just two points heading into the final minutes of the game. During that run, the momentum shifted after Wilbur was fouled shooting a three, and made the shot, hitting the free throw and earning the rare four-point play. Wilbur pulled her team to within two points later in the run, nailing her third three of the game to make the score 63-61. After Brockport responded with their own three, Wilson hit her second three of the game, pulling the team back within two. A technical foul then allowed Wilbur to tie the game at the line, setting up a Wilson jumper at the 1:42 mark for Plattsburgh's first lead of the game. With 36 seconds to go, Brockport then proceeded to tie the game, as Plattsburgh followed with four chances extended by offensive rebounds, but could not get a shot to go. With four seconds to go, inbound to Hannah was handed off to Zoe Zutes, who missed the game-winner, but Hannah was there for the cleanup, giving Brockport a last-second win.
---