CORTLAND, N.Y. – Cortland pulled away after a tight first quarter and the Red Dragons defeated visiting Utica, 82-44, in non-league women's basketball action.
Brooke Tillotson (Marathon) led the Red Dragons (6-3) with 14 points and a career-high six steals.
Lily Woodis (Dewittville/Chautauqua Lake) added 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-2 from the 3-point arc.
Four Cortland players -
Kaeli McAnally (Islip),
Mariah Huss (Kenmore/Sacred Heart Academy),
Haley Potenza (East Aurora) and
Brianna Cinque (Staten Island/Tottenville) - scored eight points apiece. McAnally,
Fiona Kernaghan (Commack) and
Lindsay Drozd (Hastings-on-Hudson) shared the team lead with six rebounds each, while McAnally handed out six assists. Potenza finished with three assists and Drozd, in her first game with the Red Dragons after joining the team mid-semester, scored six points in eight minutes of action.
Utica (3-7) was led by Vanessa Hall and Haley Burchhardt with 14 points each. McKenzie Simmons added nine points for the Pioneers. Hall led the team with five rebounds and Julia Rotando had four steals.
Cortland led 17-9 with 4:52 left in the first quarter, but Utica came back and trailed by only three, 20-17, at the end of the period. The Pioneers were within 20-19 after an early bucket from Burchhardt, but Cortland scored the next nine points - five by Huss and four from Cinque - to take a 29-19 lead.
The Red Dragons' lead shrank to 31-26 with 3:57 left before halftime, but the hosts finished the half on a 15-3 spurt to take a 46-29 lead at the break.
Abby Wilkinson (Cato/Bishop Grimes) started the run with a 3-point play, followed by two baskets from Woodis and a Drozd hoop to push the lead to 40-26. Woodis added a 3-pointer with a minute left to give Cortland a 46-27 lead.
Cortland's lead was in the 20's most of the second half. The Red Dragons outscored Utica over the last six minutes, 13-1, to create the final margin.
Cortland shot 45 percent from the floor overall and 46 percent (10-of-22) from 3-point range. Utica finished the game at 30 percent. The Red Dragons held the Pioneers to 19 percent accuracy in the second half after Utica had shot 44 percent in the first half.
Cortland hosts Geneseo in SUNYAC play Friday at 5:30 p.m.
