Casey Ryder, Staff Writer |
This past Saturday, the women’s basketball team fell to conference rival Oswego 56-52. This encounter was the second meeting between the teams this season. Oswego took the first matchup 49-46 on Jan. 28 in Oswego.
They were evenly contested in the beginning of the first quarter with both teams exchanging buckets in the early goings. Oswego’s Logan Castiglione got the game started with a layup assisted by Shania Iglesias. At the other end, Olivia Dobrovsky put the Red Dragons on the board with a layup of her own. The game would stay this way for the next several minutes. However, as the quarter wore on Oswego began to assert their dominance on the game and with Oswego leading by 8, Oneonta were forced to take a timeout with a minute and forty-three seconds to go in the quarter. Following the break, Oneonta managed to cut the deficit to 6 and at the conclusion of the first quarter Oswego led 19-13.
Moving into the second quarter, Oswego continued to be the better side. Following a layup from Oneonta’s Jenna Harclerode, Chastin Giles got the Lakers started off in the quarter by nailing a shot from downtown to put them up by 7. Oswego would continue to dominate for the rest of the quarter, outscoring Oneonta 7-4 for the remaining three minutes and at halftime Oswego led 31-21. This came despite the best efforts of freshman point guard Nadia Brown who had four points off free throws in the second quarter and was highly influential in conducting the Red Dragons’ offense the entire afternoon.
In the third quarter Oswego further asserted their dominance on the game and expanded their lead. On the defensive end, they continuously forced Oneonta into low quality shots and on the offensive end, they did an excellent job of moving the ball and eventually finding an open player. Senior guard Danielle Caivana was at the heart of the offense, picking up 9 points and 2 assists in the quarter. As a result of the Lakers’ dominant play, they led 47-28 heading into the fourth.
In the fourth quarter the Red Dragons came out and performed admirably, particularly in the early stages. Jenna Harclerode got the team started off with a three-pointer assisted by Molly Stephens. At the other end, Oswego’s offense wasn’t as prolific as it had been throughout the game. As a result, the Red Dragons outscored Oswego 22-9 in the fourth quarter. But despite the efforts our girls made, the lead Oswego had built throughout the game was simply too much for Oneonta to overcome. Oswego won the game 56-50.
They’re now just two games remaining in the regular season for the Red Dragons, the first of which is tonight at 5:30 p.m. against Potsdam. The second is tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. vs Plattsburgh and both are home games at the Dewar Arena. These are crucial games for the team in their hopes of making the conference tournament, so they need your support now more than ever. Go out and support your Red Dragons!
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