CANTON, N.Y. - The Cortland women's basketball team held off a Canton rally that saw the Roos cut a 20-point deficit to one and the Red Dragons defeated the hosts, 51-46, in a SUNYAC contest.
 
Cortland (19-3, 14-1 SUNYAC) has clinched a top-two seed in the SUNYAC postseason tournament with three regular-season games remaining. The Red Dragons are currently in second place, a half game behind New Paltz (15-1 conference). Canton is now 16-6 overall and 9-6 and tied for third place in the league.
 
Cortland led 24-15 at halftime and 35-15 with 5:50 left in the third quarter. Canton trailed 39-22 after three periods, but opened the fourth quarter with a 13-3 run to close within 42-35 with five minutes left. Trailing 44-37 with under four minutes remaining, the Roos scored six straight points, capped by a Sierra Pabo 3-pointer, and trailed 44-43 with 1:57 left.
 
Sam Dembinsky (Wallkill) hit a layup with 1:32 left to put Cortland up by three. Canton missed a shot on its next possession and Cortland missed with 42 seconds left to keep it a one-possession game. Dembinsky drew a Canton offensive foul with 21 seconds left and Joleen Lusk (Cherry Valley/Cherry Valley-Springfield) was fouled with 17 ticks left.
 
Lusk made the first free throw to make it 47-43. She missed the second, but the ball ended up lodged between the rim and backboard. The alternating possession arrow went to Cortland, and Dembinsky was fouled with 15 seconds left after the inbounds. She made both free throws to extend the lead to 49-43. Hope Aniceto banked in a 3-pointer with 2.7 seconds left to cut the Cortland lead to three, but Jackie Funk (Penfield) sank two free throws with two seconds left to seal the win.
 
Dembinsky led Cortland with 12 points and two steals and Funk finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Lusk had nine points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, Brooke Tillotson (Marathon) scored seven points, and Kaeli McAnally (Islip) handed out three assists.
 
For Canton, Kat McRobbie-Taru totaled 12 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Pabo scored 10 points and had three assists, and Kate Grainger finished with eight points and five rebounds.
 
Both teams struggled with their shooting in the contest. Cortland shot 28 percent, including just 2-of-15 in the fourth quarter, while Canton finished at 29 percent, even with 8-of-12 accuracy in the final period.
 
Cortland plays at Oswego Saturday at 2 p.m.