BRUNSWICK, MAINE - Cortland overcame a 10-point deficit early in the second half and the Red Dragons defeated Endicott College, 48-46, in the opening round of the 2025 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball tournament, hosted by Bowdoin College.
 
Cortland (25-3) won its 14th straight game and will face Bowdoin in the second round Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Bowdoin. The Red Dragons are making their fourth NCAA tournament appearance in the last five seasons and have won in the first round in three of those four tournaments.
 
Joleen Lusk (Cherry Valley/Cherry Valley-Springfield) led Cortland with 12 points and nine rebounds. Jackie Funk (Penfield) finished with 10 points, Kayla Campbell (Franklin/Franklin Central) scored nine points and grabbed five rebounds, Brooke Tillotson (Marathon) finished with eight points, five boards and three steals, and Kaeli McAnally (Islip) had five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
 
Endicott (22-6) was led by Sarah Dempsey with 14 points and Tenley Wallin and Sofia Mazzotta with eight points each. Libby Fleming ended with 10 rebounds and Emma Shinney had four assists.
 
Cortland struggled in the first half, shooting only 21 percent from the field and trailing 22-14 at halftime. Down 24-14, the Red Dragons went on a 10-0 run to tie the game between the 9:10 and 6:29 mark of the third quarter. Five Cortland players - Lusk, Campbell, Funk, McAnally and Tillotson - each hit a basket during that stretch.
 
Endicott went up 31-26 on a Katelyn Konareski 3-pointer with 2:07 left in the quarter, but Lusk answered with a 3-point play with 1:46 left and a free throw with 46 seconds left to pull Cortland with 31-30 entering the final 10 minutes.
 
The key sequence for Cortland came with less than five minutes left in the game trailing 36-33. Campbell hit two free throws with 4:07 left and then got a steal and layup to put Cortland up for the first time since the first quarter. Funk followed with a steal and then hit a 3-pointer off a pass from Campbell with 3:41 left to give Cortland a 40-36 lead.
 
The Gulls got within two at 41-39 with 2:34 left after two Fleming foul shots before Funk's layup pushed the lead back to four. Shinney hit a layup with 1:50 left and Endicott had a chance to tie or take the lead with just over a minute left but missed a layup.
 
Campbell's driving layup with 21.9 seconds left made it 45-41. Dempsey responded with a layup with 14.3 seconds left. Cortland advanced the ball after a timeout and Campbell was fouled catching an inbounds pass. She made the second of two free throws to make it 46-43. Endicott missed on a quick 3-point attempt after a timeout and Tillotson sealed the win with two free throws with 7.8 seconds left. Mazzotta banked in a 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left to create the final margin as Cortland was able to inbound the ball to run out the clock.
 
Cortland shot 40 percent in the second half to end the game at 31 percent. Endicott shot 44 percent in the first half and 29 percent in the second to finish at 36 percent.