Box Score PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – It wasn’t quite the extreme beat down issued by the Plattsburgh State women’s basketball team the last time it ran into SUNY Potsdam, but this balanced victory kept the Cardinals firmly entrenched in the race for one of the last available SUNYAC playoff sports.
Devona Paul put together a near perfect night, pouring in a team and career-high 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting to lead the Cardinals past SUNY Potsdam 77-58 at Memorial Hall on Tuesday evening.
Four Plattsburgh State (12-11, 8-8 SUNYAC) players finished with at least 10 points as the Cardinals shot an impressive 26-of-52 (50 percent) from the field while limiting the Bears (1-22, 0-16 SUNYAC) to a 35.1 percent shooting performance (20-of-57).
Brittany Marshall wasted no time in putting the first points on the scoreboard as the sophomore drained a triple 18 seconds into the ballgame off of a nice assist from senior Dana Nucaro.
Plattsburgh State never let their North Country rivals take the lead in the tilt, and opened up the game on a 19-7 run that featured scores from six different Cardinals.
Any and all energy available for the Cardinals, though, was manufactured and dispensed through the play of senior Catherine Cassidy. The 5-5 guard put together quite the impressive stat line of eight points, nine rebounds and two assists in the first 20 minutes alone.
The Cardinals didn’t have any trouble opening up a 15-point lead over Potsdam by the time the first half was in the books. Potsdam, though, kept things manageable thanks to the play of Jessica Kouzan and Katy Briedis who netted 18 of the 26 points the Bears put on the board in the opening stanza.
Of the 36 points scored by the Cardinals in the second half, Paul accounted for 14 of them. The freshman utilized her superior speed and a number of nifty spin moves to capitalize on layup after layup in the second stanza that saw the Cardinals lead by as many as 19 points.
Posing just one legitimate threat in the rest of the game, Potsdam crawled back to within 10 after Brideis nailed a long ball that made it 61-51 with 5:56 to go before the Cardinals went on a 6-0 run that occurred entirely at the free throw stripe.
Kathleen Payne, Marshall and Paul each hit a pair from that distance to effectively put the wraps on the game.
Few members of the Plattsburgh State squad suffered from a poor shooting night. Cassidy posted just her second career double-double thanks to 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Misha Green added 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting with four rebounds and an assist while Payne contributed 10 points and a game-high five assists to the Plattsburgh State cause.
In addition to her career night in the scoring column, Paul added two rebounds, a pair of steals and a game-high three blocked shots.
Ayomide Adedapo came off the bench and scored four points that included her first career Memorial Hall field goal.
The Cardinals connected on 19 of their 21 attempts at the free throw stripe and forced 23 Potsdam turnovers. Of the 26 field goals hit by Plattsburgh State, 16 were assisted on and the Cardinals outdid their SUNYAC counterparts in the blocked shot department as well, 5-1.
Kouzan and Brideis each tallied 20 points for the Bears.
With the win, Plattsburgh State moved into a three-way tie for sixth place in the SUNYAC standings with two games remaining. That three-way deadlock will set up one of the most important games of the season when SUNY Cortland – which is also one of the three teams tied for sixth place – comes to Memorial Hall on Friday.
The Play4Kay game between the Cardinals and Red Dragons is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. All fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game to help support the fight against cancer.
