Box Score PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – It's official: the 2013-14 Plattsburgh State women's basketball team has gone – and will continue to go - where no other team in the history of the program has gone before.

And the Cardinals did so quite boldly.

An MVP performance from hobbled junior point guard Brittany Marshall and a game-high 19 points from All-Tournament honoree Kathleen Payne were just two of the individual highlights for the Cardinals, who captured their first SUNYAC Tournament Championship with a come-from-behind 57-52 triumph over SUNY Geneseo in Memorial Hall on Saturday afternoon.

As the No. 1 overall seed in the conference tournament, the Cardinals improve to 22-5 and will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Tournament – another first for the program.

"This has been a long time coming and a lot of alumnae had a big part in this in helping move this program forward," said 17^th-year head coach Cheryl Cole. "It's outstanding to be the first team to do some things that haven't been done by this program before. For this group to be able to win this championship and make it to the NCAA Tournament is phenomenal."

For SUNY Geneseo, they finish with a 21-7 record and as the runners-up in the tournament for the second consecutive season.

In order for the Cardinals to pen the latest chapter in their memorable 2013-14 saga, they had to shake off what was an exceptionally difficult first half of basketball. Things were not going smoothly for the Cardinals to say the least, as they conjured up just 15 points on 5-of-28 shooting (17.8-percent) in the opening stanza.

Fortunately, Plattsburgh State's tenacity on defense paid off greatly as it limited the Knights – the SUNYAC's top rebounding team – to just 23 points on 9-of-27 (33.3-percent) field goal shooting.

Exactly one-third of the Cardinals' first-half points occurred in the first 2:04 of the frame. Marshall got things going with a mid-range jumper, but fell to the ground with an apparent ankle injury. The Malone, N.Y., product got back to her feet under her own power and headed to the bench which allowed Jax Miller to come in and charge up the Plattsburgh State crowd.

The freshman out of Argyle, N.Y., fired up a wild three-point field goal attempt that banked off the backboard and in as the shot clock was rapidly winding down to give the home squad an early 5-0 advantage.

The Cardinals' point total would not increase from five for 9:11, as the Knights reeled off a 12-0 surge over that time. All-Tournament team member Shannon McGinnis capped off the SUNY Geneseo surge with five points of her own.

Payne finally put an end to the Geneseo run by swishing a triple, beginning a stretch of five straight points for the Goshen, N.Y., product. Senior Tequilla Lloyd drove inside and hit a jumper in the paint to trim the Knights' edge to 13-12 with 5:27 remaining in the opening stanza.

That was as close as the Cardinals would get, though, and a Katie Durand layup with 2:08 to go sent Geneseo to the halftime break armed with a 23-15 advantage.

Dana Cohan put Plattsburgh State in an 11-point hole as her three-pointer began the scoring in the deciding frame, but a 7-0 Cardinal response set up a fierce stretch of call and response by the two clubs.

Devona Paul began the surge with a fast break layup and another fast break score by Brooke Reifinger was the other bookend to a three-point play by Payne.

Geneseo's advantage remained at five points as Katie Peterson canned a short-range jump shot which made matters 37-32 with 9:20 remaining, but the Cardinals drew closer still on back-to-back layups from Paul and Reifinger.

Misha Green, who spent the majority of the game engaged in some fierce rebounding battles with Geneseo's towering post players, handed the Cardinals the lead for good when her fast break bucket put Plattsburgh up 40-39 with 7:04 to go. The New Rochelle, N.Y., product was unmatched in her tenacity on the boards as she finished with a game-high 12 rebounds.

Green's game-changing score was part of a 9-0 Plattsburgh State run over the course of 2:51. Another jumper from Payne put the finishing touches on the run and also put the Cardinals up 45-39 with 4:44 to go.

The Knights trimmed that lead to just two after McGinnis it a layup which made matters 45-43 with 2:32 left, but a three-ball each from Marshall and Payne swelled the Plattsburgh State edge to 51-44 with 1:09 remaining. Reifinger and Marshall closed things out for the Cardinals from the free throw stripe, setting the stage for the emotional team celebration at half court.

Plattsburgh State outscored the Knights 42-29 while shooting 48.3-percent (15-of-31) in the deciding half. McGinnis (14), Allison McKenna (10) and Kayleigh Cavanaugh (10) were the three Knights who finished the game in double-digits.

On Monday afternoon at 2:30 p.m., Plattsburgh State will see its name appear on screen during the NCAA's Division III Women's Basketball selection show. The show will be live streamed on NCAA.com and that is where the Cardinals learn when and where their next test will take place.