PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Juniors Allie Taylor and Devona Paul combined to amass 37 points, but the Plattsburgh State women's basketball team just couldn't get over the Blue Devils' roadblocks in a 70-64 setback in Memorial Hall on Saturday afternoon.
The Cardinals fall back to the .500 mark with a record of 9-9 which includes a 6-5 SUNYAC ledger. By securing the season sweep of Plattsburgh State, the Blue Devils improve to 8-10 and 5-7 in league altercations.
In a game which remained close throughout, the Blue Devils – led by Alexis Cheatham and her game-high 20 points – pulled ahead by 13 with a pivotal 10-0 run over a span of 2:57 in the deciding frame. Cheatham figured into it all, scoring eight points and assisting on the Blue Devils' other field goal.
Another big problem the Cardinals encountered was the rebounding game of their foes. Fredonia State out-rebounded the hosts by a 45-32 margin and finished with 19 offensive boards and 17 second-chance points to its credit. Those rebounding woes offset the Cardinals' great night from the field. Plattsburgh State hit 46.2-percent (24-for-52) of its field goals and limited the Blue Devils to a 21-for-66 (31.8-percent) showing.
Eager to string together three consecutive SUNYAC wins for the first time this season, the Cardinals came and shot up the Blue Devils with a formidable dose of Paul and Taylor early on. The pair scored all nine of Plattsburgh State's points during a 9-3 run in the first 3:28 of the skirmish.
That lead, though, was one of the few the Cardinals would possess during the game. Directly after a Paul free throw accounted for the ninth Plattsburgh State point, the Blue Devils went to work. The formidable post tandem of Sabrina Macaulay and Jacque Law pumped in each and every point during an 11-0 Fredonia State surge over the next 8:29.
The Cardinals couldn't snap out of their offensive funk during that stretch as they went 0-for-9 from the field and committed four turnovers. Trailing 14-9 with 8:13 to go in the opening stanza, the Cardinals finally put an end to the one-sided run when Jax Miller cashed in on a deep ball.
Plattsburgh State pulled ahead of their conference rivals twice more in the opening 20-minute period – once when Brittany Marshall canned a downtown bucket to make matters 20-18 and again when Misha Green broke up a 20-20 deadlock with a layup off of an offensive board.
With that, though, the Blue Devils unloaded nine straight points at the Cardinals with the final five coming off the mitts of Law. A fast-break score from sophomore Jessica Dolan capped the first-half scoring and the Cardinals headed to their locker room to talk strategy down 29-24.
Once again, Paul and Taylor were the primary instigators of offense for the home corps. Of the first 18 points the Cardinals conjured up in the deciding frame, the aforementioned duo chipped in all but two of them. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Blue Devils never trailed in the last 20 minutes of action.
Playing some big-time basketball, sophomore Shanielle Chambers trimmed the Blue Devils' lead to 50-47 with a charity stripe hit with 7:15 left, but that's when Cheatham began to heat up.
The three-point threat drilled two trifectas, hit two free throws and found Kathryn Halloran for an easy layup which put the visitors up 60-47 with 4:18 to go.
Never say die, though, was the Cardinals' motto and a quick 9-0 spurt featuring six points from Paul and a big-time triple from Marshall put Plattsburgh State at a 60-55 disadvantage with 2:21 remaining and set up a frenetic finish.
Taylor and Marshall willed the Cardinals to keep going, and layups from Taylor countered the Blue Devils' free throws in the last two minutes to push the Cardinals within three, 62-59, with 55 seconds to go.
Marshall hit a driving layup and then added another for good measure and stepped to the foul line to complete her three-point play to make it a 66-64 game with eight seconds left. The Cardinals luck, though, ran out as the Blue Devils continued to thrive at the foul line. Fredonia State swished all 10 of their attempts in the final 1:45 to close out the win.
As well as Cheatham's good performance, Law had 18 markers while Halloran and Macaulay chipped in 10 each for the visitors. Macaulay completed her double-double by snaring a game-high 10 rebounds.
Marshall was the other double-digit scorer for the Cardinals as she added 11. The senior out of Malone, N.Y., now just needs nine points assists to take over as the program's all-time leader. She passed out a game-best five on Saturday.
A five-game road trip is up next for Plattsburgh State. Friday night will see the Cardinals roll into Oneonta State where they seek a season sweep of the Red Dragons. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.
