POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam women's basketball team (6-2, 2-1 SUNYAC) suffered a tough 63-62 loss to Oneonta State (4-5, 2-1SUNYAC) on Saturday afternoon. A last second chance fell short at the buzzer as the Red Dragons escaped with the win.
The Bears opened the contest with a 9-3 started by a 3-pointer from junior guard
Madison McCormick (Heuvelton, N.Y./Heuvelton). After the three, junior forwards
Alyson Crosby (Brier Hill, NY/Hammond) and
Jakia Howard (Syracuse, N.Y./Nottingham) followed with layups and junior guard
Dyamon Hunter (Bronx, N.Y./Thurgood Marshall Academy) hit two free throws. The Dragons charged back with a 13-8 streak to get within 17-16 at 1:27. Potsdam led 18-16 after 10 minutes. McCormick had nine points in the quarter.
Potsdam entered the second quarter strong. Freshman guard
Xy'El Bradford (Syracuse, N.Y./Syracuse Academy of Science) stole the ball and scored at 8:45 to put the Bears up by Oneonta rebounded with back-to-back layups from freshman forward Amanda Zuntag (Staten Island, N.Y./Notre Dame Academy) and junior guard Olivia Dobrovosky (Skaneateles, N.Y./Skaneateles) to tie the score at 7:54. Oneonta kept pushing and two free throws from sophomore guard Molly Stephens (LaGrange, N.Y./Arlington) put the Red Dragons back in front 24-22 at 5:27. The Bears then kicked it into gear and finished the quarter with eight straight points from McCormick, Hunter and junior forward
Mandy Barnell (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool). Bears led the Red Oneonta 32-26 at the half.
Entering the third quarter the Bears were the first to get on the board with a layup by Hunter at 8:48. The Red Dragons countered with six points in a row started by a Stephens layup at 8:24. Sophomore forward
Caroline LaFountain (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) sank one of her two free throws at 3:41 to give the Bears a 39-37 lead. The teams traded buckets the rest of the quarter and Potsdam led 46-40 after 30 minutes.
Junior forward
Alyson Crosby (Brier Hill, N.Y./Hammond) scored on a layup 17 seconds into the fourth quarter and Potsdam looked strong, up by eight Barnell made it 55-49 with 4:40 to play. . However, the Red Dragons were not done and clawed their way back into the contest. Oneonta scored the next seven points capped by a Zuntag jumper and led 56-55 at 2:55. Out of a Potsdam timeout, sophomore guard
Bella Barner (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) drained a three and the Bears were back out in front 58-56 with 2:31 to play. It was back and forth the rest of the contest, with the lead changing five more times. With eight seconds left, Dobrovosky hit a jumper to make tit 63-62. Barner just missed a chance to win it as time expired and Oneonta held on.
McCormick and Hunter both had the game-high of 16 points. Stephens was the lead scorer for Oneonta with 14 points on the night, while Dobrovosky finished with 13 and seven rebounds. Zuntage had 10 points and eight boards.
The Bears are back in action on Tuesday at Cazenovia at 5 p.m.
