PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State women's basketball team battled Cortland in a hard-fought 58-50 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) loss on Saturday evening in Memorial Hall. Junior guard Julia Greek (Long Island, N.Y. / Ward Melville) gave a strong effort, pacing the Cardinals with a game-high 20 points to pair with four assists, three rebounds, and two steals.

Sophomore guard Kayla Johannesen (Hyde Park, N.Y. / Our Lady of Lourdes) was the second leading scorer with 12 points, while sophomore forward Kaelyn Morgan (Chateaugay, N.Y. / Chateaugay Central) contributed eight points and seven rebounds in the overall effort. Senior forward Imani Walcott (Albany, N.Y. / Albany) had a strong presence in the paint, pulling down a team-high eight rebounds to go with a game-high three blocks and a pair of steals.

For the Red Dragons, Sophie Bissaillon led the team in scoring with 12 points and five rebounds. Jackie Funk was close behind with 11 points, and Brooke Tillotson chipped in nine.

Plattsburgh State delivered a strong shooting performance, finishing at 34.5% from the field and an impressive 56.3% from three-point range while connecting on nine triples. Cortland answered with efficient shooting of its own, hitting 44.0% from the floor and 38.9% from beyond the arc with seven made threes. The Cardinals held a slim rebounding advantage, 33-32, though Cortland capitalized on extra opportunities with nine second-chance points compared to Plattsburgh's three. Cortland also edged Plattsburgh in points off turnovers, 17-11.

While Plattsburgh opened the scoring with a Johannesen three-pointer, Cortland responded with nine straight points and took a 9-3 lead at the 5:24 mark. After Morgan converted a layup to make it a three-point game, Cortland responded with a 5-0 spurt to close the first quarter and led 18-10 heading into the second.

The Cardinals opened the second quarter with back-to-back three-pointers from Johannesen and Jaden Wilson that made the score 18-16 Red Dragons with 6:37 remaining. The Cardinals remained within striking distance despite Cortland pushing the lead to double digits, and Greek's jumper late in the quarter cut the deficit to 30-22 at halftime.

The third quarter saw Cortland push its lead to double digits, but Plattsburgh countered with an 8-0 surge capped off by a three-pointer from Johannesen to make the score 35-30 with 5:34 remaining. After some back-and-forth play, Plattsburgh closed the quarter with a layup from Rosie Sculco and went into the fourth trailing 40-34.

Plattsburgh continued to battle in the fourth quarter as a three-pointer from Wilson made the score 53-45 with 3:23 to go. However, each Plattsburgh response was met by Cortland, as the Cardinals came up short in a 58-50 loss.

With the loss, Plattsburgh State drops to 9-5 (4-3 SUNYAC) and is back in action on Friday, Jan. 23, when the team travels to Oneonta for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.