OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Cortland women's basketball team secured the second seed for the SUNYAC playoffs with a 74-37 win at Oswego.
The Red Dragons improved to 19-4 overall and 14-2 in the conference with two games remaining. New Paltz (16-0) is guaranteed the top seed and will host the league semifinals and finals Feb. 24-25. Cortland, regardless of its outcomes next weekend at Buffalo State and Geneseo (12-4), will be the second seed and will receive a bye into the semifinal round.
Maggie Malone (Cornwall) led Cortland with 16 points on 8-of-16 shooting.
Emily Morano (Olyphant, PA/Mid Valley) made 7-of-13 shots and finished with 15 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Flo Hunte (Elmont/Sewanhaka), making her first collegiate start, scored a season-high nine points and tied her career bests with four rebounds and three steals. She was 4-of-6 from the floor. Four other Red Dragons -
Sarah Tully (East Aurora),
Logan Streety (Elma/Iroquois),
Brooke Tillotson (Marathon) and
Stef Gera (Auburn) each scored six points. Tully led the team with eight rebounds, Streety had six boards, and Tillotson made both of her shots from the field while setting a scoring career high.
Casey Travers (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) chipped in with five points, five rebounds, three assists and four steals.
Oswego (12-12, 5-11 SUNYAC) was led by Shania Iglesias with 12 points. Julia Logana paced the Lakers with eight rebounds and Chastin Giles grabbed seven boards.
Cortland converted 25 Oswego giveaways into a 27-4 advantage in points off of turnovers. The Red Dragons turned the ball over only nine times. Cortland shot 42 percent from the field while holding the hosts to 29 percent shooting.
Cortland opened with a 13-0 run over the game's first five minutes. Malone and Morano each scored four points in that stretch, and Hunte capped the run with a 3-pointer. Oswego, however, closed to within 17-9 after one quarter, and five straight points from Iglesias in the first 1:10 of the second quarter reduced the Red Dragons' lead to 17-14.
Cortland finished the half on a 13-4 streak that featured two Malone buckets and a Gera trey and the Red Dragons held a 30-18 halftime lead. That margin grew to 24 points in the first 5:21 of the third quarter and was at least 20 the rest of the contest.
