Box Score ONEONTA, N.Y. – Looking to earn a measure of revenge against Oneonta State after a home setback to the Red Dragons just 13 days ago, the Plattsburgh State women’s basketball team found itself unable to keep up down the stretch in a 56-52 setback at Dewar Arena on Friday night.
The Cardinals (9-10, 5-7 SUNYAC) committed 26 turnovers and shot just 32.3 percent (21-of-65) from the field, but the Red Dragons (9-10, 6-6 SUNYAC) didn’t fare much better, throwing the ball away 24 times and hitting on only 20-of-56 (35.7 percent) of their shots.
Looking to circumvent the grind-it-out style of the Red Dragons, the Cardinals went to work early and often on the block. Making it her personal mission to outwit Oneonta State, Tequilla Lloyd recorded six of the first eight Plattsburgh State points as part of an 8-2 spurt to open the game.
After the Red Dragons made an inspired charge to get back within one, three straight baskets culminating with a layup by Devona Paul gave Plattsburgh State its largest lead of the game, 14-7, with 11:39 to go in the opening stanza.
While the Cardinals did a good job of nullifying the slow-it-down style of Oneonta State early, the Red Dragons went on to transform the flow of the game into something more preferable to them directly after Plattsburgh State opened up their largest lead.
Over the next 7:22, the Red Dragons embarked on a 13-0 run that hinged on some impressive team defense. The Cardinals went 0-for-7 from the field during that stretch and committed six of their 14 first-half turnovers during the span as well.
Although Dana Nucaro ended the lengthy Plattsburgh State scoring drought with a jumper at the 4:07 mark of the frame, those points were two of just four put up by the visiting squad in the final 11:39 of the half. A three-point make by Oneonta State’s Kristin Pappalardo gave the home squad its largest lead of the game, 25-16, with 1:17 to go in the first half.
Yet another jumper from Lloyd made it 25-18 Oneonta at the half, but the Cardinals stormed back thanks to a timely barrage of three-point baskets early in the deciding frame.
Through the first 5:03 of the second half, a 12-4 surge by the Cardinals gave the visitors the lead again after Kathleen Payne swished the fourth triple of the frame to make it 30-29 Plattsburgh State. Brittany Marshall and Brooke Reifinger also drilled shots from downtown during the run for the Cardinals, who were limited to a 0-for-6 mark from three-point land in the first half.
Payne’s triple helped the junior’s confidence on the offensive end of the floor as the Goshen, N.Y., native single-handedly kept the Cardinals in the game by scoring 14 straight points for the visitors in a game that turned out to be hotly contested down the stretch.
A jumper by Payne with 8:52 to go in the half gave the Cardinals their biggest advantage of the second half, 41-38, before the Red Dragons used a pair of inside buckets to put them up by one.
On the ensuing Plattsburgh State possession, Marshall connected on yet another long-range basket that gave the Cardinals their final lead of the game, 44-42, with 6:29 to go.
Oneonta State embarked on a 7-0 run that gave it a 49-44 lead with 2:51 to play and the Cardinals couldn’t come back. During the stretch of 3:07, Plattsburgh State went cold from the field, shooting 0-of-4 from the field while committing another four turnovers. Making matters worse was Oneonta’s imposing interior freshman Sarah Longto who blocked a game-high six shots.
Payne rattled home her fourth three-pointer of the evening with 1:35 to go, pulling the Cardinals to within two, 51-49, but an offensive rebound and a layup by Oneonta’s Grace Schilling put the hosts back up by four with 1:11 left in the contest.
The Cardinals had their chances to try and come back, but couldn’t hit pay dirt, coming up with just three more points in the game while the Red Dragons closed things out at the charity stripe.
Game-high scoring honors went to Payne who wound up with 17 markers on 6-of-18 shooting. The junior ups her career point total to 1,024 - the fifth-most in program history.
Marshall was the only other player for the Cardinals to reach double figures as the sophomore netted 10. Nucaro hauled in a game-high nine rebounds, helping the Cardinals to a 47-43 edge on the boards during the tilt.
Balance was the name of the game for the Red Dragons as Schilling and Pappalardo each scored 14 points while Longto added 13 of her own.
Plattsburgh State was just 2-of-8 (25 percent) from the free throw stripe, but with a 12-of-24 (50 percent) mark, the Red Dragons weren’t much better.
The Cardinals will play their final regular season road game on Saturday when they head down to New Paltz to face the Hawks. The game is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
