ONEONTA, N.Y.—Oneonta State (12-12, 9-8 SUNYAC) held off a late charge from the SUNY Potsdam women's basketball team (12-11, 7-10) for a 62-54 victory on Friday night. Junior forward
Jakia Howard (Syracuse, N.Y./Nottingham) led the Bears with 16 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard
Dyamon Hunter (Bronx, N.Y./Thurgood Marshall Academy) had 12 points and four assists and freshman forward
Jenna Cotter (Johnson City, N.Y./Susquehanna Valley) matched a career-high with 10 points.
Howard opened the game on a personal 6-0 run over the first three minutes of the contest. The Red Dragons countered with an 11-3 run for an 11-9 lead with 2:10 left in the quarter. Three free throws, one from freshman guard
Xy'El Bradford (Syracuse, N.Y./Syracuse Academy of Science) and two from Hunter, gave Potsdam a 12-11 lead after 10 minutes.
The teams traded leads in the first minutes of the second quarter, but Amanda Zuntag hit back-to-back jumpers for Oneonta to make it 18-15 at 8:20 and the Red Dragons never trailed again. Cotter scored on a layup at 7:53 to make it a one-point contest, but Oneonta closed the half on a 13-6 burst and took a 31-23 advantage into the locker room. Cotter had five points in the quarter and Howard scored four.
The Bears opened the second half on a 5-0 run, all from Hunter, to get within 31-28 at 8:50, but Potsdam couldn't get closer. Oneonta outscored the Bears 17-7 the rest of the quarter and had a sizable 48-35 lead through three quarters.
Nadia Brown scored at 7:18 of the fourth quarter to give Oneonta its biggest advantage of the game at 52-37. Potsdam made a 13-5 push over the next 6:15 for 57-50 deficit with 1:03 to play. Oneonta then hit five of six from the free-throw line to close out the win.
Brown and Zuntag each finished with 10 points for Oneonta and Meg Nardelli scored nine.
The Bears close out the regular season tomorrow afternoon when they travel to SUNY New Paltz for a 2 p.m. showdown with playoff berth hanging in the balance.
