ONEONTA, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State women's basketball team wrapped up the 2021-22 season with a 50-29 loss to SUNY Oneonta in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action Saturday afternoon at Dewar Arena.
 
First-year forward Payton Couture (Redford, N.Y./Saranac) led the Cardinals with 10 points, while junior forward Hannah Ruberto (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) grabbed eight rebounds. Junior guard Mya Smith (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) kept the offense running with four assists and did not turn the ball over in 35 minutes of action.
 
For Oneonta, junior guard Meg Nardelli scored 15 points in 21 minutes coming off the bench, while first-year guard Amanda Zuntag netted 10 points. Senior forward Megan Palmatier pulled down 10 rebounds, while junior guard Olivia Dobrovsky finished with nine rebounds, eight points and four assists.
 
The Cardinals shot 19.2 percent (10-of-52) from the field, while the Red Dragons shot at a 37.7 percent (20-of-53) clip from the floor. Oneonta finished with a 50-29 edge in rebounds and scored 14 points off 17 Plattsburgh State turnovers.
 
Plattsburgh State finishes the season at 7-18 overall (4-14 SUNYAC), while Oneonta rises to 13-12 overall (10-8 SUNYAC) with the win. The Red Dragons hold the No. 5 seed in the SUNYAC Tournament and will visit fourth-seeded Buffalo State in the first round on Tuesday, Feb. 22, at 7 p.m.
 
Both teams were scoreless for the opening 5:08 of the contest before Oneonta received a pair of 3-pointers from Nardelli to take a 6-0 lead. While first-year guard Hope Sullivan (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) scored the Cardinals' first points of the game with 3:33 left in the opening stanza, the Red Dragons scored the final eight points of the quarter to lead, 14-2, through 10 minutes of play.
 
Oneonta continued the run into the first three minutes of the second quarter before a Couture 3-pointer cut the gap to 13 points. A layup by Ruberto and a trey by Couture whittled the deficit to single digits, and while the Red Dragons opened the lead back to 10, a Smith trey trimmed the deficit to seven points. Dobrovosky extended the Oneonta edge to 22-13 before Ruberto scored on a layup to provide the halftime score of 22-15.
 
The Red Dragons opened the third quarter on a 9-2 tear, and Sullivan broke up the run with a made free throw. Oneonta led by as many as 16 points in the third, but Plattsburgh State pulled within 13 following a pair of free throws by Couture and one free throw by Ruberto. The Red Dragons took a 36-21 lead into the final quarter.
 
Senior guard Kayla Doody (Troy, N.Y./Tamarac) drained a 3-pointer to open up the fourth quarter, but Oneonta never let the Cardinals get any closer, finishing the contest on a 14-5 run.
 
It marked the final game for Doody and senior forward Kelly Degnan (Irvington, N.Y./Irvington), who both were four-year members of the Plattsburgh State women's basketball program.