POTSDAM, N.Y. – The SUNY Potsdam women's basketball team (6-8, 4-5 SUNYAC) fell to SUNY Geneseo (10-5, 5-3 SUNYAC) at home in the opening game of their weekend doubleheader. Senior forward Jakia Howard (Syracuse, N.Y./Nottingham) paced the Bears with a team-high 18 points. Sophomore guard Xy'El Bradford (Syracuse, N.Y./Syracuse Academy of Science) registered a career-high 16 points on 4-5 shooting from deep.
 
Potsdam got on the board first at 9:28 in the first quarter when Howard hit her first of four three-pointers to put the Bears up by three. Geneseo then answered with a 7-0 run to go ahead of the Bears 7-3 at the 6:20 mark. Two minutes later, Potsdam nailed back-to-back three-pointers from Bradford and senior guard Dyamon Hunter (Bronx, N.Y./Thurgood Marshall Academy) to tie the game 9-9. The remainder of the quarter continued to be close until junior guard Kerry Dennin (Northport, N.Y./Northport) made a close jumper to put the Knights up 15-13 after one.
 
The Knights started the second quarter red hot, routing a 12-2 run to put Geneseo up by 11 after three minutes. Approaching the midway point of the quarter, Howard was sent to the line where she sank two free throws to give the Bears some momentum. Sophomore forward Jenna Cotter (Johnson City, N.Y./Susquehanna Valley) then sank two more free throws to cut the Knights lead to six with 3:55 remaining. Howard yet again came in clutch as Hunter found her open for a three-pointer to trim the lead to three and continue the Bears' run. With only 28 seconds remaining, sophomore guard Mikayla Shipley (North Chili, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) picked off a Geneseo pass and started to break with Bradford by her side. Bradford missed her first opportunity but capitalized on her second attempt as the Knights lead by one point at halftime.
 
After a seesaw battle for most of the third quarter, Potsdam retook the lead 41-40 after senior forward Mandy Barnell (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) made two free throws with 3:44 left. After a series of defensive stops by both teams, Geneseo managed to find the bottom of the net with 2:06 remaining to put the Knights back on top by one. The game remained tightly contested at the end of the quarter with Geneseo grasping onto a 45-43 lead.
 
The Knights hit three three-pointers in the opening four minutes of the fourth quarter to extend the Geneseo lead by eight. The red-hot shooting continued for Geneseo as the Knights pulled away from the Bears to secure a 72-59 victory on the road.
 
Both Hunter and Barnell chipped in eight points each to round out the scoring for the Bears. Barnell also hauled in nine rebounds while Hunter and Shipley dished out seven and six assists, respectively. Shipley's six assists ties her career-high which was set last season against SUNY Fredonia.
 
Senior forward Lauren Romito (Hauppauge, N.Y./Hauppauge) led the Knights with 20 points while Dennin had 17 points to compliment her teammate.
 
The Bears are back in action tomorrow when they host The College at Brockport at 2 p.m. in another anticipated SUNYAC matchup.