PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – If there's one thing that the Oneonta State women's basketball team has hung its collective hat on through its first six tilts of 2014-15 it's the defensive brand of basketball the Red Dragons bring to the floor night in and night out.
Knowing they had to try and overcome that fierce score-stopping game the Red Dragons employ, the Cardinals came out and beat Oneonta at its own game.
In a reversal of roles, the Cardinals were the aggressors on defense while tearing one of the Red Dragons' hallmarks to ribbons in a wire-to-wire 62-50 triumph over Oneonta State in Memorial Hall on Saturday afternoon.
Brittany Marshall pumped in a game-high 16 points for the Cardinals and was joined in double-digit scoring territory by Jax Miller (13) and Allie Taylor (12). For the fourth straight season, Plattsburgh State has won its first two SUNYAC tilts of the season and the Cardinals even up their overall record at 3-3. Marshall moves up to sixth place on the Cardinals' all-time scoring charts and has 1,024 career points.
On the other side of the coin, the Red Dragons dip to 5-2 and 1-1 in conference tilts. Plattsburgh State limited their foes to a 27.3-percent (15-of-55) mark from the field and forced 21 turnovers in the win. A field goal shooting clip of 41.1-percent (23-of-56) as well as a 10-of-11 (90.9-percent) showing at the free throw line helped the Cardinals secure the win.
It took nearly four minutes for either team to get on the board, but the Cardinals finally did so when Stephanie Linder fed the rock to Miller who drained her first long ball of the afternoon. That hit sparked a 6-0 run for the home team with Misha Green netting the next three markers on a long jumper and a free throw swish.
For the first 6:39, Oneonta State experienced no success from the field as the Cardinals forced the visitors to misfire on their first nine shots. In that same span, the Red Dragons coughed up the ball on six occasions.
Thanks largely to the efforts of Taylor and Devona Paul, the Cardinals were able to build up their first double-digit advantage of the night. After Caysea Cohen splashed a jumper to pull Oneonta State within 10-6, Taylor sandwiched a pair of fast-break scores around a pair of Paul hits from the charity stripe to put the Cardinals up 16-6 with 8:43 to go in the opening stanza.
Going inside to their towering post presence in the 6-foot-3 Sarah Longto, the Red Dragons were able to whittle the Cardinals' edge down to just two – 23-21 – as 2:24 showed up on the first-half clock. Marshall, though, pushed the lead back to four before the halftime horn sounded with two of her four makes at the foul line.
After enduring a hand-wringing shooting performance from three-point land on Friday night, the Cardinals finally began to heat up from long distance when the second half rolled around. Marshall banged a pair of triples while Linder and Miller each connected on a long-distance attempt of their own in the first 6:47 of the final frame.
By lacing triple after triple, the Cardinals were able to build up their lead to 41-29. With their game plan to get back into the thick of things with their field goal shooting unraveling at a rapid pace, the Red Dragons tried to pull closer from the free throw line.
A 6-0 run by the visitors occurred almost exclusively at the foul line with Cara Adams, Tyra Harrison and Longto hitting from that distance. Longto's free throw came after she banked in a layup and trimmed the Plattsburgh State edge to 41-35 with 11:38 remaining.
Linder, Marshall and Taylor each scored in close during a 6-2 spurt by the home team which put it ahead 47-37 with 9:17 to go.
Plattsburgh State continued to bare its teeth on the defensive end as Oneonta State hit just three field goals in the final 10:19 of the game.
Finally putting things out of reach, the Cardinals jumped up by 11 after Paul and Taylor each hit a jumper and Linder pt her head down and forced her way to the tin to hit a layup which made the score 57-56 with 1:58 to go.
Paul capped off the win with an old-fashioned three point play with 1:07 to go.
Even though Paul didn't reach double-figures, she submitted arguably the best statistical line of the afternoon with nine points, a game-high seven rebounds, a game-high four rejections, a pair of steals and an assists.
Linder had a well-rounded game, too, posting nine points, five boards, three assists and four steals.
Cohen (15) and Longto (13) were the only two Red Dragons to finish with more than 10 points.
In order to arrive at their next set of roundball contests, the Cardinals will have to cover a little bit of ground. About 1,860 miles of it to be precise. Plattsburgh State will make for the sunny skies and sandy shorelines of San Juan, Puerto Rico to take part in the San Juan Shootout. The first of two games in the U.S. commonwealth will pit the Cardinals against Ithaca College at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 28.
