PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – A little home cooking was just what the Plattsburgh State women's basketball team needed in order to forget about its recent road struggles.
Devona Paul amassed game-highs in both points (19) and rebounds (11), and senior point guard Brittany Marshall submitted a 10-point, 10-assist double-double of her own as the Cardinals rolled to a 65-52 SUNYAC victory over Oswego State in Memorial Hall on Friday night.
Stephanie Linder also hit double-digits, slinging in 11 points for the Cardinals who shot 45.2-percent (28-for-62) from the field to move to 6-6 and 3-2 in SUNYAC confrontations. That trio accounted for five of the eight steals for the home team.
With those steals and a suffocating defensive effort, the Cardinals held the Lakers (4-9, 2-4 SUNYAC) to a 17-for-55 (30.9-percent) night from the field and forced 24 turnovers. Conversely, Plattsburgh State enjoyed one of its best shooting performances of the season as the team connected on 28 of its 62 field goal attempts (45.2-percent) in the one-sided affair.
Ball movement was one of the Cardinals' primary weapons as the home team racked up an impressive 24 assists on 28 field goals.
Although the score wound up being rather lopsided, the Lakers got on the board first due to the efforts of Alisha Jacobs. Her three-point swish 58 seconds into the bout made it a 3-0 score, but Paul began her high-scoring night with a pair of free throws to account for the Cardinals' first points with 18:33 remaining in the opening half.
The teams traded leads on just two occasions, the first of which came when Paul put the Cardinals on top for the first time with a short jumper. Heather Hebert strode to the foul line for the Lakers seconds later, though, and drilled both of her attempts to make it a 7-6 score in favor of the visitors 3:42 in.
That's when the Cardinals really got going.
For the next 8:02, Plattsburgh State didn't let the Lakers record a single point but the Cardinals fired and hit from all angles during a game-clinching 17-0 run which featured scores from five different Plattsburgh State players.
Sophomore shooting specialist Jax Miller accounted for the most points during the Cardinals' lengthy scoring spree as she called buckets on a pair of triples. Paul had four during the stretch and sophomore Jessica Dolan capped it off with four consecutive markers which made the score 24-7 with 8:56 remaining in the opening half.
When the dust had settled, the Cardinals had forced more Oswego State turnovers (10) than the Lakers had points. From there, the home team was able to put things on cruise control.
The largest Plattsburgh State lead of the half came when Marshall capped the Cardinals' scoring in the frame with a layup to make matters 41-21 in the final minute of play.
Paul was the star for the Cardinals in the opening half, having scored 17 of her points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field. As a team, though, the Cardinals absolutely blistered the nets by putting in 58.6-percent (17-for-29) of their total attempts.
In the last 20 minutes of action, Plattsburgh State's lead swelled to as many as 25 points. That happened when Paul found fellow member of the starting lineup Allie Taylor for a driving layup to make the score 55-30 with 10:33 remaining.
Leading by 21 after Shanielle Chambers put in the last of her three free throws with 3:21 to go, the Cardinals allowed the Lakers to close within 11 after Courtney Ameele sparked a 10-0 run with a trio of deep balls but senior Yazmin Lewis rattled in a short jumper off of Miller's career-high seventh assist of the game to account for the final score.
Ameele put in a team-high 14 points for the Lakers while Hebert finished with 12. Coming into the game, Rachael Windhausen was the top scoring freshman in the SUNYAC, averaging 12.8 points per game. The Cardinals' defense, though, held the first-year player to just four points and zero field goals.
Saturday will mark a tough home test for the Cardinals as they welcome No. 24-ranked SUNY Cortland into Memorial Hall. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.
