Casey Ryder, Staff Writer |
This past Friday, the women’s basketball team defeated Potsdam 62-54. With the win, the team has now booked their place in the SUNYAC Conference Tournament becoming the five seed.
In the early goings, Potsdam was first to get on the scoreboard when Jakia Howard scored a layup after grabbing an offensive rebound. Howard would follow that initial bucket with a jumper and a pair of free throws to put Potsdam up 6-0. However, the Red Dragons responded well. Starting with a Molly Stephens layup to cut the lead to 4, they would outscore Potsdam 9-2 for three minutes, and as a result, they led 9-8 at the game’s first media timeout. The remaining four minutes and twenty seconds of the half were evenly contested and when the buzzer sounded at the end, Potsdam led 12-11.
To start the second quarter, Stephens converted from three to put them up by 2. However, that was followed up by Potsdam’s Jenna Cotter scoring a layup and converting a free throw to put the Bears up by 1. For the next several minutes both teams managed to find success on the offensive end, however, it was the Red Dragons who were slightly more clinical and at the media timeout they led 23-17. Coming out of the media timeout, the Red Dragons continued to build their lead. First, Amanda Zuntag scored a layup to put the team up by 8. For the remainder of the quarter, Potsdam made inroads into Oneonta’s lead, scoring 6 for the remainder of the half, but those inroads were offset by a jumper from Sophia Wakin and a layup at the buzzer from Dobrovosky. At the end of the first half, Oneonta led 31-23.
Moving into the third quarter, Potsdam’s Dyamon Hunter got the half started by scoring a layup and simultaneously drawing a foul. She’d score the ensuing free throw to cut the deficit to 5. About 30 seconds later Hunter drew another foul and scored the ensuing free throws to cut Oneonta’s lead to 3. However, like in the first half, the Red Dragons responded well. For the next 3 minutes and 55 seconds they outscored Potsdam 10-2, and with 4 minutes and 55 seconds remaining they would lead 41-31. For the remainder of the quarter, the team continued their strong play. On the defensive, they limited Potsdam to just 4 points and on the offensive end, the team continued to click. At the end of the quarter they had a well-deserved 48-35 lead.
In the fourth quarter, freshman point guard Nadia Brown got the Red Dragons off to a good start by converting two free throws after drawing a foul to extend the lead to 15. Brown would play a crucial role down the stretch and about a minute and a half later she scored a layup to put the team up by 13. Thanks to Brown, Oneonta would continue to build their lead, and with three minutes to go the Red Dragons led by 14. Though, the Bears would make things interesting by going on a 6-0 scoring run for a minute and 33 seconds. However, following a series of Potsdam fouls, the Red Dragons managed to see the game out and win 62-54.
This past Tuesday, the Red Dragons beat Buffalo State 59-52 to advance in the SUNYAC Tournament. Oneonta will face off against SUNY Cortland later today at 7:30p.m. The game will be played in Cortland, but let’s keep up our school pride and root for our Red Dragons!
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