CLINTON, N.Y. – Cortland overcame a 14-point first half deficit and a 4-point margin early in overtime as the Red Dragons defeated host Hamilton College, 77-76, in a women's basketball non-league matchup.
All five starters for Cortland (2-1) scored in double figures, led by
Emily Morano (Olyphant, PA/Mid Valley) with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting. She also grabbed four rebounds.
Maggie Malone (Cornwall) made two 3-pointers and ended with 12 points and six rebounds,
Casey Travers (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) finished with 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals,
Sarah Tully (East Aurora) tallied 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting and added six rebounds and three blocks, and
Logan Streety (Elma/Iroquois) scored a career-high 10 points, blocked two shots and led the team with eight rebounds.
Nyia Longford (Medford/Longwood) recorded six points, six rebounds and a team-high four assists in 22 minutes off the bench.
Brooke Tillotson (Marathon) chipped in with five points, three rebounds and two assists.
Hamilton (2-1) also featured five double-figure scorers who accounted for all but five of the Continentals' points. Althea Hill made 4-of-6 shots from 3-point range and scored 20 points. Taylor Lambo finished with 18 points and seven rebounds and Emma Sehring totaled 13 points, a team-high 12 rebounds, and three assists. Emily Hall and Courtney Shay each scored 10 points and shared the team lead with four assists apiece. Hall also pulled down six rebounds.
Cortland did not lead for the first three quarters. The Red Dragons were down 20-7 after one quarter and by 14 points on two occasions in the second quarter. Cortland fought back to within five points, 32-27, at halftime and eventually tied the game at 36-36 on a Tully jumper with just under seven minutes left in the third. Hamilton pushed its lead to seven at 47-40 with 1:44 left in the period, but Cortland scored eight of the final nine points in the quarter, including two Malone 3-pointers, to tie the game at 48-48.
Cortland led by six points early in the fourth before the hosts rallied to eventually take a 66-64 lead on a Lambo layup with 44 seconds left. Morano's layup with 25 seconds left tied the game, and Hamilton missed a shot in the closing seconds to send the game to overtime.
The Continentals led 72-68 a minute and a half into overtime behind two treys from Hill. Cortland regained the lead on a Streety jumper with 2:34 left and a Travers 3-point play with 1:21 remaining. Tillotson hit a jumper to give Cortland a 3-point lead with less than 40 seconds left. Hamilton got a bucket from Sehring with 18 seconds left, Morano sank two free throws with 15 seconds on the clock, and Sehring hit a layup with 11 seconds left to keep Cortland's lead at one. The Red Dragons missed two free throws, got the offensive rebound, but eventually missed two more free throws. Hamilton's attempt at a game-winning 3-pointer from the left side looked on the mark but rattled off the rim in the final seconds.
Cortland will host SUNY Poly in a non-league game Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
