CORTLAND, N.Y. – Senior Jessica Laing (Bloomville/South Kortright) registered game highs of 24 points and 12 rebounds and sophomore Micki Volpini (Newfield) scored 19 points, all in the second half, as Cortland defeated SUNYAC leader Oneonta, 69-63.
Cortland has won eight straight games and is now 13-3 overall and tied for the league lead at 8-1. Oneonta drops to 10-6 overall and is also 8-1 in the SUNYAC. Cortland has won 10 straight games versus Oneonta dating back to the start of the 2005-06 season.
Cortland head coach Jeannette Mosher collected her 300th career victory with the verdict. She has won 267 games versus only 62 losses in her 12 seasons at Cortland and earned 33 wins at Alfred University in the mid-1990s.
Listen to post-game interview with Jeannette Mosher
Rebecca Bucci (Marlboro/Our Lady of Lourdes) led Oneonta with 15 points and eight assists and also grabbed six rebounds. Sarah Waltersdorf (Clifton Park/Shenendehowa) scored 14 points off the bench and Samantha Szkotak (New York Mills) finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.
The host Red Dragons trailed 45-41 with 14:38 remaining before scoring nine of the next 11 points, fueled by six points from Volpini. Her three-point play with 11:53 left gave Cortland a 50-47 lead and the team never trailed again.
Neither team led by more than six points until Cortland grabbed a 60-52 lead on two Volpini free throws with 3:29 left. The lead grew to nine on an Allyson Biordi (Beacon) foul shot with 2:52 left. Biordi finished with seven points and eight rebounds.
Oneonta, however, mounted a final comeback to make things tight. Bucci hit a trey at the 2:36 mark, although Volpini countered with a jumper with 2:10 left. Oneonta drew within four on baskets by Waltersdorf and Mary Kate O’Connell (Altamont/Guilderland) and had a chance to get even closer following a turnover, but missed two foul shots with 1:18 remaining. Oneonta struggled from the foul line, hitting only 4-of-11 attempts in the second half and 9-of-18 for the game.
Mary Bruns (Brooklyn/Bishop Ford) made two foul shots with 53 seconds left to give Cortland a six-point lead. Oneonta got no closer than five points from that juncture.
Laing posted her 13th double-double in 16 games this season. She scored 18 of Cortland’s 29 first-half points as the hosts trailed 32-29 at intermission.
Oneonta shot 46 percent from the floor compared to 37 percent for Cortland, but the hosts hit 17-of-20 free throws and 8-of-20 three-pointers. Oneonta was 4-of-21 from three-point range.
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