Oneonta Women's Basketball Advances Past Canton in First Round of SUNYAC Tournament with 67-55 Road Win

CANTON, NY – The Oneonta women's basketball team took care of business on the road and defeated Canton, 67-55, in the first round of the SUNYAC tournament, Tuesday evening at the Roos House in Canton. Looking past the intensity that was seen and felt throughout the game, the Red Dragons owned the Roos as they shut them down around the perimeter (holding Canton to 15.8% from three), outscored them in each quarter and only trailed for a minute of game time. The win advances Oneonta to the conference semifinals, where they will face Cortland in New Paltz on Friday, February 27, at 7:30 pm.

Senior Lidia Boucher (Delmar, NY/Bethlehem Central) and junior Carlie Young (Baldwinsville, NY/Baldwinsville Central) both led Oneonta with 18 points and two steals. Boucher shot 7-for-18 from the field and collected eight rebounds, while Young was on fire from beyond the arc and finished 4-for-7 from deep, 6-for-12 from the floor, and brought in five boards.

Freshman Addy Eckert (Bloomville, NY/South Kortright) went 6-for-8 from the field to tie her career-high 13 points along with eight rebounds and two blocks. Freshman Tyalia Fret-Thom (Poughkeepsie, NY/Roy C. Ketcham) came off the bench and shot 50.0 percent from the floor to score 11 points, and junior Megan Desrats (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley) recorded the game-high six assists with five points, six rebounds, and two steals.

"Our goal this season has been to learn your job and do your job, and tonight everyone did exactly what they needed to do," said Head Coach Daphne Thompson. "I couldn't be more proud of how the whole team performed."

Boucher got the Red Dragons started with the first six points for the team, then Eckert scored down low before Young splashed her first trey for an 11-4 lead at 6:18. Canton got their offense going with a 10-2 run, however it came to a halt when Boucher knocked down her fourth jump shot off a pass from sophomore Kendall Mack (Cortland, NY/Cortland) at 2:08. Mack then found Eckert down low on the next possession for Oneonta to take a 17-16 lead into the second quarter.

Desrats started the second quarter with a drive to the rim and created contact for the three-point play, but the Roos responded and tied the game at 24 with 6:08 left in the second. Sophomore Leela Guobadia (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) drained two at the line to regain the edge then Young hit her second three with an assist from freshman Kayla Beaudoin (Brunswick, NY/Tamarac). Coming out of the media timeout, Fret-Thom drove past her defender to lay it and put the team up four. The freshman Red Dragon recorded six points in the quarter and finished the half with hard take to the rim to build Oneonta's halftime lead to 35-30.

After trading baskets to start the third quarter, Young powered a 7-0 solo-run with a corner trey, two at the line, and a layup to put Oneonta up 46-36 at 4:10. The Roos trimmed their deficit in the final moments of the quarter and went into the fourth trailing 47-41.

Oneonta relied on the three-ball to begin the fourth quarter as Young, Boucher, and Fret-Thom each hit one from deep to put the Red Dragons up 56-47 at 7:08. Following a layup from Canton's Sierra Pabo, Oneonta had Desrats, Eckert and Boucher all score a bucket to give Oneonta a commanding 62-49 lead with 4:41 to play. The Roos managed to make it a single digit game with 2:02 left, but the Red Dragons held them scoreless for the rest of the game while Boucher sealed the deal with three free throws.

Oneonta finished 43.9 percent from the floor, 46.2 percent from three-point range (6-for-13), while Canton shot 33.3 from the field and 15.8 percent (3-for-19) from deep. The Red Dragons finished with a 42-41 rebounding advantage and shot 78.6 percent (11-for-14) from the free throw line, while the Roos had a 15-11 margin in second chance points and went 54.5 percent (6-for-11) at the line. Canton was led by Kat McRobbie-Taru with 19 points and eight rebounds, and Pabo added 13 points with three assists and three steals.

Oneonta will play Cortland in the SUNYAC semifinals in New Paltz on Friday at 7:30 pm, following the other semifinal game between New Paltz and Plattsburgh. The winners of both games will play one another on Saturday, February 28, for the SUNYAC Championship at 4 pm.