GENESEO, N.Y. - The Plattsburgh State women's basketball team lost on the road Saturday night, as the Geneseo Knights defeated the Cardinals 72-48 in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play. After a close first half, a big third quarter allowed the Knights to pull away from Plattsburgh, securing the season sweep over the Cards.
First-year guard Jaden Wilson (Johnstown, N.Y./Johnstown) was the team's top scorer on Friday evening, putting up a career-high 15 points on 5-11 shooting from the floor. Wilson was the only Cardinal to register double-figure scoring totals, as Izzy Wilbur (Red Creek, N.Y./Red Creek) and Kathy Peterson-Ross (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) had nine and eight points, respectively. Lauren Romito had 17 points and 16 rebounds for Geneseo, while Kerry Denin matched Romito's game-high 17 points while also pulling down eight boards.
The game was decided on the boards on Friday, where the Knights dominated, outrebounding Plattsburgh 51-32. Geneseo also added 24 points in the paint and 16-second chance points to Plattsburgh's 14 and five points in the same categories. The Cardinals shot 28.8% from the field, but shot the well from deep, hitting eight threes in a 33.3% performance. The Knights were solid from the field (39.7%) but worse from deep (28%), with the difference shooting-wise being in the free throw discrepancy, where Geneseo had 15 makes and Plattsburgh had just six.
The Cards of Plattsburgh move to 6-14 on the season and are 2-11 in SUNYAC play, as they will head to Brockport tomorrow, Feb. 4, as they take on SUNY Brockport at 2 p.m. for their next game. The Knights now move to 15-5 and are 10-3 in conference play this year, matching up with Potsdam in their next game tomorrow, Feb. 4.
The first quarter of play proved to be a close one, as Plattsburgh came out much stronger than in their first meeting with the Knights. The Cards took two leads late in the first quarter, as a Wilson lay-in gave Plattsburgh an 11-10 lead and a Mya Smith (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) gave the Cards a 13-11 at the 2:03 mark. Geneseo took the lead back shortly after, which they held the rest of the way, closing the quarter on a 5-0 run. The rest of the half remained close, as the Cardinals were determined to pick up the big road win, trailing 30-22 at the half.
The third quarter proved to be the big difference in score and the game overall, as the Knights surged with a 10-0 run midway through the quarter to build a 16-point lead. A strong run to close the half pushed the lead to 20 for Geneseo, which they would hold and extend in the fourth quarter, winning by a 24-point margin for a 72-48 win.
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