PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – Misha Green surprised everyone in attendance by showing off a sizzling touch from three-point range and dropping in a team and career-high 19 points, but SUNY Geneseo's Allison McKenna hit a jumper from just outside the free throw in the final minute to lift the Knights to a 55-52 victory over the Plattsburgh State women's basketball team in Memorial Hall on Saturday afternoon.
In the regular season finale for both teams, the Knights wrapped up their number-one overall seed for the upcoming SUNYAC Championship Tournament while the defending champion Cardinals checked in as the fifth seed.
SUNY Geneseo rises to 21-4 and 17-1 in the league while running its winning streak to games. The Cardinals move to 12-13 and 9-9 in conference play, and will head to Oneonta State to face off against the fourth-seeded Red Dragons in a SUNYAC Championship Tournament quarterfinal game at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night.
Devona Paul added 16 points, six rebounds, three blocked shots, a steal and an assist for the home team who gave the Knights absolutely everything they could handle. McKenna finished with a game-high 21 points for the visitors while Shannon McGinnis added a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double and Dana Cohan put in 11 more.
Prior to tip-off, the Cardinals honored seniors Brittany Marshall and Yazmin Lewis with a short ceremony. Marshall finished the game with eight points and added to her program-record assist total by handing out six of them.
Plattsburgh State finished the game at a slight disadvantage from the field, shooting 33.3-percent (20-for-60) compared to a 39.6-percent (21-for-53) showing by the Knights.
Paul was the only offense the Cardinals could invent in the early stages, as she put in the first four points for the home team. Making a bid to turn the tilt into a blowout early, the Knights were not interested in missing shots in the first six minutes of the game.
McKenna and Cohan worked the inside-outside game perfectly as the duo combined to score the first 12 points for the visitors. SUNY Geneseo went 5-for-5 from the field with each member of the aforementioned combo chipping in six points.
That was about the time, though, when Green discovered her downtown touch. The New Rochelle, N.Y., product put a stop to the Knights' 12-4 run to open things with the first of her six long range buckets.
Aside from Green and Paul, only one other Cardinals – Stephanie Linder – went on to amass any points in the first 20 minutes of play. As it turned out, though, that was more than enough for the home team.
Back-to-back mid-range jumpers from Paul tied things at 16 apiece with 9:10 to go in the first, but Katie Peterson slung in four straight points for the defensive-minded visitors to put them on top once again.
That lead only lasted for a short while, though, thanks to Green. She knocked down another corner triple before pulling up for a heat-check downtown attempt which she also buried, sending waves of excitement through the sizable senior day congregation. Paul capped the 8-0 Cardinal run with a layup and Linder added a put-back layup with four seconds remaining to send Plattsburgh State to their locker room with a 26-22 lead at the half.
It was Linder who handed the Cardinals their largest lead of the game when her steal and fast-break lay-in pushed the Plattsburgh State advantage to 28-22 in the first minute of the second half.
Not afraid in the slightest, though, the Knights proceeded to embark on a 13-1 run, the success of which rested almost solely with McGinnis. She slung in nine points during the surge which saw the Cardinals' only point come on an Allie Taylor free throw.
Green finally muscled the floodgates shut with another deep ball which made matters 35-32 Knights with 13:07 to go in the half. SUNY Geneseo, though, pushed its lead back to seven with another heavy dose of McKenna before Marshall joined the party.
Determined to make her final appearance in Memorial Hall a memorable one, the Malone, N.Y., product courageously breathed life into the Cardinals' stagnant offense by hitting a pair of contested triples, the second of which came by way of a nifty step-back move.
Clinging to a 45-44 lead, the Knights shouted back with four straight points before the Cardinals took off on their final push.
Paul hit back-to-back layups before Green tied things with a hit at the foul stripe which made the score 49-all with 2:46 to go. After another McKenna laup, Green continued her three-point heroics with her final swish of the afternoon from that distance which put the Cardinals on top 52-51 with 2:12 to go.
Those points, though, were the last the Cardinals would score and McKenna's jumper which came off of an offensive rebound proved to be the daggar.
