Box Score PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Until Saturday, the most wins any Plattsburgh State women's basketball team had collected in a single season was 16.

Thanks to a balanced effort as well as a splendid collective shooting touch, the 2013-14 edition of the Cardinals was able to break that 11-year-old record and work their way into the Plattsburgh State history books.

Leading a trio of Plattsburgh State scorers with 14 or more points, sophomore Devona Paul totaled 16 markers on 7-of-9 shooting which helped the Cardinals ease by SUNYAC cellar dweller Oswego State (6-17, 2-14 SUNYAC) by a 75-63 tally on Saturday afternoon in Memorial Hall.

It was almost a wire-to-wire victory for the home squad, which saw its record rise to 17-5 and 12-3 in SUNYAC tilts. That pushed these Cardinals past the 2001-02 and 2002-03 versions who had each piled up 16 victories. The 2013-14 team's conference triumph tally of 12 passes the 11 the 2002-03 squad picked up for most in a single season.

Connecting on 30 of their 63 field goal attempts (47.6 percent), the Cardinals witnessed their lopsided advantage balloon to as many as 30 points in the one-sided affair. Coupled with a 30-point loss by Buffalo State, the Cardinals' win moved them to a half-game behind the Bengals for first place in the SUNYAC standings heading into the final week of the regular season.

A hard-driving baseline move after the jump ball was controlled by the Cardinals resulted in a layup from Kathleen Payne who netted the first four points through the course of Plattsburgh State's 7-2 opening salvo.

The Lakers responded with a 7-1 spurt of their own which culminated with a layup from Paula Egelston that gave the visitors their sole advantage of the 40-minute tilt – 9-8 – four minutes in.

Brittany Marshall put the Cardinals on top for good by draining her first of four long balls to spur a 7-0 Plattsburgh State run. Egelston pulled the Lakers to within three by splitting a pair of free throw attempts with 11:47 to go in the frame, but a layup from Paul and a pair of long-range swishes by freshman sharpshooter Jax Miller upped Plattsburgh State's lead to 25-14.

The final Oswego State push came in the form of the Lakers' Haley Witchella and Jenn Robbins. The duo pumped in six and four points respectively during a 10-2 stretch that trimmed the Plattsburgh State lead to 27-24 as 4:38 showed on the first-half clock.

Coming off the bench to spell the likes of Paul and Tequilla Lloyd, freshman Jessica Dolan initiated a 15-3 Plattsburgh State run which would span the remainder of the half with the second of her four two-point field goals.  

Oswego's only points came courtesy of a banked in three-pointer by Alison Nunziato with 2:06 to go in the frame. Nunziato's triple unleashed a trio of triple responses by the Cardinals during the rest of the half. Senior Brooke Reifinger swished one while Marshall contributed another two to the Cardinals' cause – including one that beat the first-half buzzer.

Sporting a 42-27 lead to begin the deciding frame, the Cardinals wasted no time in making that advantage grow even larger. Through the first 6:18 of the second half, Plattsburgh State embarked on a 13-4 run which culminated with Miller's third and final trifecta that made it a 55-31 lead for the home squad with 13:42 remaining.

Dolan's seventh and eighth points made it a 65-35 ballgame a little less than halfway through the final stanza.

Even though the Lakers trimmed Plattsburgh State's lead to 12 points by the time the final horn had sounded, the Cardinals were able to limit their longtime rivals to a 24-of-66 (36.4 percent) shooting percentage which included a 5-of-20 (25 percent) showing from distance.

Marshall and Payne each finished with 14 points for the Cardinals while Miller added nine and Dolan chipped in eight.  
Witchella finished with 12 markers and a game-high eight rebounds to pace Oswego State.

In what will shape up to be arguably the most exciting final week of regular season basketball ever played by the Cardinals, Plattsburgh State begins a three-game stretch by hitting the road for a 6 p.m. tip off against SUNY Potsdam on Tuesday night.