Ithaca College and host Oswego State both won their opening round games on Friday, November 21 during the first day the 2008 Oswego State Women's Basketball Tip-Off Tournament at Max Ziel Gymnasium, setting up a Saturday afternoon showdown at 4:00 p.m. for the championship.
The Lakers (2-0) needed to hold off a late rally from SUNY Cobleskill to come away with a 61-56 victory. Senior co-captain Heather Merino (Queensbury, NY/Lake George) scored a team-high 19 points on five of 13 field-goal shooting and 9-for-10 shooting from the free-throw line. Sophomore Traci Bacon (Massena, NY/Massena) followed with 17 points, connecting on five of eight field goals, including 3-for-5 beyond the arc.
Oswego led 29-16 at halftime, but the Fighting Tigers (0-2) opened the second half with a 19-5 run in the opening 8:08 of the period, taking a 35-34 lead on a jumper from freshman Heidi Anderson (Canojarharie, NY/Canojarharie). There were five lead changes and five ties over the next 8:20 before Oswego took the lead for good on a three-point play from sophomore forward Colleen McCready (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) with 4:33 remaining, starting a game-closing 12-4 stretch run for the Lakers.
Sophomore Sharee Daniels (Poughkeepsie, NY/F.D. Roosevelt) led all scorers with 20 points, hitting nine of 20 from the floor, while
Anderson followed with 10 points, making a pair of three-pointers) to pace Cobleskill, who will meet Bridgewater State in the 12:00 p.m.
third-place contest.
In the early evening contest, Ithaca (1-2) won their first game of the season with a 59-44 triumph over 2007-08 NCAA Division III Championship qualifier
Bridgewater State College, getting a game-high 15 points from junior guard Katherine Bixby (Philadelphia, PA/Germantown Friends), and 13 points from classmate Lindsay Brown (Danbury, CT/Immaculate). The Bombers, who never trailed throughout the game, jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the opening 5:05 of the game on five points from Bixby and seven from Brown. Bixby finished with 10 first-half points, while Brown tallied nine points as the Bombers took a 30-14 halftime lead.
Sophomore Corey Cuddihy was the lone player in double figures for the Bears (0-1) with 10 points. Brittany Chappron (Braintree, MA/Braintree) followed with nine points to go with five rebounds, a block, and two steals, while freshman Stephanie Houtman (New Bedford, MA) tallied eight points and six rebounds. Senior Ashley Coucci (Dartmouth, MA) pulled down a game-high eight rebounds and had two steals.
ITHACA-BRIDGEWATER STATE BOX
OSWEGO-COBLESKILL BOX
