CANTON, N.Y. – In its first road game of the final month of 2014, the Plattsburgh State women's basketball team received a 21-point performance from junior Devona Paul, but couldn't slow down a St. Lawrence squad which corralled 23 Cardinals turnovers and turned them into 30 points in a 90-64 game which sent the Cardinals to 1-3.
St. Lawrence also used an efficient touch from downtown - 12-of-30 (40 percent) to be specific - in order to move to 3-1 in 2014-15. Plattsburgh State shot 41.2-percent from the field (21-of-51) from the field in the loss and was out-rebounded by a 47-36 margin.
Before the long-range assault commenced for the home squad, the Cardinals jumped out to an early lead. Junior Allie Taylor broke the seal on the Saints' scoreboard, receiving a pass from Brittany Marshall and swishing a layup 37 seconds into things.
Paul followed that up with the first two of the Cardinals' 20 makes at the foul stripe, staking the visitors to a 4-0 edge.
With that, the Saints turned to Kara McDuffee to lead them ahead. The final-year player was a one-woman wrecking crew, tallying 14 of the first 16 points for the home squad. Nine of those markers came on a trio of old-fashioned three-point plays.
Even with McDuffee dictating the story of the game, the Cardinals found themselves trailing by just one, 16-15, with 12:13 to go in the initial stanza. It wasn't until her final three-point play that the visitors found themselves in trouble.
Opening up a two-point lead after a three-point splash from sophomore Jax Miller and a mid-range hit by the Argyle, N.Y., product, the Cardinals saw the Saints begin to scorch the twine.
A 14-0 scoring blitz for the home team saw McDuffee and two of her compatriots drill three-pointers which wound up translating to a 27-15 lead with 8:58 remaining in the opening half.
Thanks to Paul, the Cardinals were able to weather the storm for a spell, cutting the Saints' lead down to six, 29-23, after a pair of layups from the Blauvelt, N.Y., junior. Shortly thereafter, though, another salvo of long balls from the Saints put the Cardinals at another substantial disadvantage – this time for good.
St. Lawrence canned another quarter of three-pointers in the half, building up a lead of as many as 16 points before all was said and done. Paul rattled in the final eight points of the half for the Cardinals, helping them stay within 11, 45-34.
St. Lawrence didn't see its hot shooting touch diminish in the slightest once the final 20-minute frame rolled around. Caroline Dalton began the stanza by drilling yet another long ball before the Cardinals received a chance to try and chip away at the now-14-point deficit.
In an attempt to try and get themselves back into the thick of things, the Cardinals turned to Paul once again. The junior netted four of the first six Plattsburgh State points in the second half, but the hill turned out to be far too steep to scale for the visitors.
The Saints used a 13-4 run to make the margin 21 points and Plattsburgh State didn't pull to within 20 points for the remainder of the tilt.
McDuffee pumped tied Paul's game-best with 21 points of her own. In the process, she became the 13
th player in the history of the Saints' program to reach the 1,000-point plateau. The senior registered a game-high nine rebounds to go along with three steals and a pair of blocked shots, too.
Allison Cady (17) and Shayna Davner (11) were the other two student-athletes in Saints colors to reach double-digits in scoring.
For the visitors, Marshall finished as the second-leading scorer, amassing nine points to go along with a game-high seven assists. The Malone, N.Y., product needs just 10 more points to become the ninth Plattsburgh State women's basketball player to arrive at the 1,000-point milestone.
Friday night will see the Cardinals make a return trip to Memorial Hall as State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play commences. The last two hoisters of the SUNYAC crown will be going at it at 7:30 p.m., when the New Paltz Hawks bring a 3-3 record to Plattsburgh State's home facility.
