Trailing by as many as 23 points in the opening half, the Oswego State women's basketball team battled back to register an 81-77 victory over visiting Hamilton College on Saturday, Jan. 8, at Laker Hall.

The win keeps the Lakers perfect at 8-0 on the season, while the Continentals slipped to 5-3.

Oswego State fell behind 40-17 in the final seconds of the opening half before Sarah Driscoll (Lisle) converted a four-point play with three seconds remaining. Getting the ball back on a Hamilton foul, Kristin Sterling (Oneida) scored off the in-bound play trimming the deficit to 40-23 at the break.

The Lakers began to chip away at the Hamilton lead using a 14-6 run midway through the final 20 minutes to get the margin to within 10 points. After cutting the gap to one point seven times, Oswego State took the lead for the first time on a lay-up by Sarah Lombard (Saratoga Springs) with 3:24 remaining. That bucket made the score 71-70.

Oswego State fell behind once more in the game, but once the Lakers regained the lead they never relinquished it. The hosts iced the win in the final 15 seconds as Lacey Kimpland (Fulton) sank a free throw and then Lyndsey Marquit (Castleton) converted a Hamilton turnover into another basket to seal the win.

Lombard led the Lakers with 16 points, 13 of which came in the second half, and 10 rebounds, while Kelly Mraz (Johnstown) added 15 and Sally Shuster (East Amherst) contributed 12.

For Hamilton, Allie Massaro (Lewiston) netted a game-high 22 points with Melissa Steppe (Charlottesville, Va.) adding 12.

Oswego State returns to SUNY Athletic Conference play on Tuesday, Feb. 9, as the Lakers head north to take on Plattsburgh in a 6 p.m. start.