MARCY, N.Y. – Stevie Ray scored 11 of her game-high 30 points over the last seven minutes as unbeaten SUNY Poly rallied from an 11-point deficit to defeat visiting Cortland, 68-64, in a non-league women's basketball game.
The Wildcats improved to 8-0 with the win, while Cortland dropped to 4-5. The Red Dragons will return to action on Monday, January 2 at Montclair State in New Jersey.
Cassidy Chapko (Valley Falls/Hoosic Valley) led Cortland with 20 points and five rebounds. She made 8-of-15 shots from the field, including four 3-pointers in eight attempts.
Kristy Vitucci (Deer Park) made 3-of-6 from 3-point range and finished with 16 points and five assists, and
Stephanie Rice (Duanesburg) added 11 points (4-of-8 field goals), four rebounds and three assists.
Also for the Red Dragons,
Alyssa Crosby (Brier Hill/Hammond) scored nine points and grabbed four boards,
Danielle Levine (Holbrook/Sachem North) shared the team lead with five rebounds, and
Tanna Mohammed (Huntington/Elwood-John Glenn) had a team-best three steals.
Ray finished with 30 points despite Cortland's defense limiting her to 11-of-30 shooting from the field, 6-of-19 from 3-point range. She also finished with seven rebounds, six assists and six steals. Khristaijah Jackson recorded a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds and Kiersten Leos had 11 points (3-of-8 from the 3-point arc) and seven rebounds.
Cortland trailed 37-34 at halftime after relinquishing a 10-point second-quarter lead, and SUNY Poly extended its lead to 42-34 in the first three minutes of the third quarter. Cortland, however, outscored the Wildcats 19-2 the rest of the quarter to take a 53-44 advantage, and the lead grew to 58-47 on Crosby's 3-point play with 6:26 remaining.
The hosts mounted a 19-2 run over the next six minutes to take a six-point lead. Ray's jumper with 5:07 left cut Cortland's lead to four, and she set up Jackson for a short jumper with 4:38 left to make it 58-56. The Wildcats eventually tied the game on Ray's steal and layup with 2:56 left.
Rice sank two free throws with 2:24 remaining to briefly give Cortland back the lead, but on the Wildcats' next possession Ray hit a 3-pointer to give them a 61-60 lead. Jackson's layup extended the lead with 1:42 left. Cortland turned the ball over on its next two possessions, and Ray's 3-pointer with 33 seconds left put SUNY Poly ahead 66-60.
Cortland made a final push to make things interesting. Chapko hit a layup and was fouled with 26 seconds left. She missed the free throw, but Cortland grabbed the offensive rebound. Crosby was fouled with 19 seconds on the clock and hit both free throws and Cortland trailed by just two at 66-64.
SUNY Poly's Shelby Kralik was fouled with 18 seconds left and hit the second of two free throws to push the margin to three. Cortland missed a jumper with under 10 seconds left but retained possession when the ball went out of bounds. Ray, however, registered a steal on the ensuing baseline inbounds pass, and Kralik was fouled and hit the first of two free throws with three seconds left to seal the victory.
Cortland shot 43 percent from the field compared to SUNY Poly's 38 percent, but the Red Dragons turned the ball over 25 times to the hosts' 17. SUNY Poly held a 13-0 advantage in points off of turnovers in the fourth quarter and a 25-20 advantage in that category for the game.
