ONEONTA, N.Y. – The SUNY Potsdam women's basketball team (2-4, 1-2 SUNYAC) fell to SUNY Oneonta (5-3, 2-1 SUNYAC) 63-53 at Dewar Arena on Saturday. Senior guard Dyamon Hunter (Bronx, N.Y./Thurgood Marshall Academy) posted 19 points with seven rebounds and senior forward Jakia Howard (Syracuse, N.Y./Nottingham) added 10 points and seven rebounds of her own.
 
The Bears trailed early as Oneonta went on an 8-2 run to start the opening quarter. Both teams went on a scoring drought and were unable to find any offense until Hunter took it to the hoop for two with 3:31 remaining. A minute later, sophomore guard Mikayla Shipley (North Chili, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) located sophomore guard Carley Hill (Essex, Vt./Rice Memorial) for three to cut the Red Dragons lead to four late in the quarter. Oneonta held a 15-12 lead after 10 minutes. Hunter scored six of her points during the quarter.
 
At 8:18 in the second, Hill hit another three-pointer to give the Bears their first lead of the game 17-15. Neither team gained any momentum until the Red Dragons staged a 6-0 run to retake the lead 28-20 with 3:16 remaining. Hunter made a three and Howard sank a free throw in the final minutes of the second, but the Red Dragons still had a five-point advantage at the break.
 
Five minutes into the third period, the wind was taken out of Potsdam's sails when Oneonta nailed two three-pointers to further extend their lead by 11. At 1:20 left to go, senior forward Mandy Barnell (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) managed to grab an offensive rebound and put it back up for a quick two. Oneonta continued to lead the game 44-31 at the end of the third quarter.
 
Midway through the fourth quarter sophomore guard Xy'El Bradford (Syracuse, N.Y./Syracuse Academy of Science) picked off a pass from the Red Dragons and made a fastbreak layup at the other end. Thirty seconds later, Howard capitalized on another Oneonta mistake to trim the Red Dragons lead back to single digits. The Bears were never able to close the gap as Oneonta took their second conference victory at home 63-53.
 
Hill finished the night with six points while sophomore guard Zavia Jaime (New Hartford, N.Y./New Hartford) tallied four points for the Bears.
 
Oneonta saw three of their players score in double figures in today's contest. Olivia Dobrovosky registered 16 points with nine rebounds. Molly Stephens recorded 12 points while Meg Nardelli had 11 to round out Oneonta's offense.
 
With her 19 points, Hunter (1041) is now just two points behind Jessica Kouzan '14 for fourth place on the program's scoring list.
 
The Bears are now off until next Saturday, Dec. 10, when they host Oswego State at 2 p.m.