OSWEGO, N.Y. - The Oswego Lakers hit the road for the semifinals of the SUNYAC Women's Basketball Championships. The semifinals were hosted by SUNY Cortland and the Lakers took on the New Paltz Hawks who they split the regular season two game series with.
 
THE BASICS 
SUNYAC CHAMPIONSHIPS SEMIFINALS
Oswego 58 (17-10, 13-5 SUNYAC) 
New Paltz 66 (17-9, 15-3 SUNYAC) 
Corey Gymnasium | Cortland, NY
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lakers brought the energy in the first quarter jumping out to an 11-2 lead over the Hawks. Hoefs drained a jumper followed by a layup from Shania Iglesias to keep the lead at 11 for Oswego. In the final 90 seconds, New Paltz went on a 6-0 run to make the Oswego lead 14-8 after one.

In the second, the Oswego offense ran into some serious trouble. The Hawks boosted their defense, and the Lakers only scored one basket from the field in the second coming from Giavanna White-Principio and the other 3 points came from free throws. The Lakers were down 26-19 at the half.

In the third, Oswego battled to keep up with the Hawks and found themselves down only five points halfway through the quarter. The Hawks found opportunities in transition off Oswego turnovers to build their lead back up to 11 forcing a timeout from the Lakers. White-Principio cut into the lead with two free throws and then Sydney Hoefs knocked down a three making the lead just 9. Iglesias sank a jumper to shrink the lead to just 7 heading into the fourth.

It was Iglesias once again to start the fourth quarter, adding her 13^th point of the night. A few minutes later she knocked down another one for her 15^th point, cutting the lead to just 5. However, it seemed no matter what the Lakers through at the Hawks, they were ready and would not let Oswego get much closer than 5 or 6 points. With the lead at 4, the Lakers came out of a time out the Hawks knocked down two free throws and got a stop on defense. In the final minutes, Oswego committed two costly turnovers that lead to an insurmountable New Paltz. Oswego fell by a score of 66-58.

WHATS NEXT
This will complete the season for the Lakers women's basketball team. They complete the 2024-25 season with a 17-10 overall record and 13-5 in the SUNYAC.