MADISON, N.J. – The Cortland women's basketball team opened its 2021-22 season with a hard-fought 73-69 loss to Misericordia University in the opening round of the Drew University Rose City Classic.
 
Cortland will face Neumann University in the third-place game Saturday at 1 p.m., while Misericordia (2-0) will play the host Rangers in the title game at 3 p.m.
 
Four Cortland players scored in double figures, led by Casey Travers (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) with a career-high 18 points. She hit 7-of-15 shots from the floor, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range, and added three steals and three rebounds.
 
Sarah Tully (East Aurora) finished with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. Nyia Longford (Medford/Longwood) scored 12 points and led the Red Dragons with six rebounds and five assists, and Shannon McGuire (West Babylon) added 10 points and four assists.
 
Alyssa Bondi led the Cougars with 21 points. She made four 3-pointers and also pulled down seven rebounds. Morgan Haefele made 7-of-11 shots overall and 5-of-8 from the arc to finish with 19 points, Elizabeth Fasti scored 10 points and dished out six assists, and Gianna Delfino led the team with 11 rebounds while adding nine points, three steals and two blocks.
 
Cortland trailed 16-9 after one quarter, but closed to within 23-22 on Corinne Miedreich's (Pearl River) jumper with 3:01 left in the half and trailed 28-26 at halftime after a Flo Hunte (Elmont/Sewanhaka) layup with 16 seconds remaining.
 
The Red Dragons took their first lead on a Tully layup less than two minutes into the third quarter, and held their largest advantage of the night at 37-31 after a Travers layup with 6:44 left in the period. Misericordia scored the next eight points to go up by two with 3:54 remaining, and the Cougars took a 47-43 lead into the final 10 minutes.
 
Cortland stayed close the entire fourth quarter, although the Red Dragons never were able to take the lead. McGuire's 3-pointer with 7:03 left created the game's final tie at 54-54, and Cortland was within a point on two other occasions, the last at 70-69 when Longford hit a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left. Bondi made two free throws to give the Cougars a 72-69 lead with 13 seconds left, and Cortland turned the ball over with six seconds left. Bondi sealed the Misericordia win by hitting the first of two free throws with five seconds remaining.