ELMIRA, N.Y. – Senior Maggie Byrne (Pearl River/Albertus Magnus) made two free throws in the closing seconds as Cortland edged Elmira, 67-65, in a non-league contest.
Junior Jessica Laing (Bloomville/South Kortright) led the Red Dragons (4-1) with 18 points and 10 rebounds for her fifth “double-double” in as many games. Junior Tiffany McLaughlin (Wellsville) scored 16 points off the bench and Byrne finished with 12 points, four assists and four rebounds.
Marcia Coakley led four Elmira double-figure scorers with 17 points. Erin Rupell finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and four steals, Amanda Lawlor added 11 points and 10 rebounds and Mary Symonds scored 10 points.
Cortland led almost the entire game. The Red Dragons held a 10-point lead in the first half before Elmira tied the game at 37-37 at intermission. Cortland pushed its lead to nine points at 53-44 on a Laing layup with 11:53 left and was still up six at 62-56 on two McLaughlin free throws with 3:47 remaining.
The host Soaring Eagles (2-3) pulled within one twice in the last two minutes, the second time on two Rupell free throws with under 10 seconds left. Cortland senior Kristin Ciccone (Long Beach) made one foul shot to put the Red Dragons up two, but Coakley drove down the court and tied the game on a layup with just a few seconds left. Elmira, however, fouled Byrne on the inbounds and she sank the game-winning free throws.
Sophomore Jennifer Patten (Bainbridge/Bainbridge-Guilford) grabbed nine rebounds for the Red Dragons and senior Ali Canale (Oswego) scored nine points and pulled down five rebounds despite playing only 18 minutes due to foul trouble.
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