The SUNY Cortland’s women’s basketball team showcased their dominance contributing their 4th consecutive victory by defeating the Plattsburg Cardinals 64-48 on Saturday Feb 3.
“One of our team goals this weekend was to have fun and play together as a team, ” Kaelie Mcanally said. “we were also running off defensive energy in a way that kept us going and we didn’t let up.”
Before the start of the game the Red Dragons frequently do their best to boost the energy before going into the game.
Mcanally said, “Many of us have different superstitions we like to do before games, but one thing we all do together is before the game we pick a song that brings up the energy and sing, dance anything to loosen us up.”
Additionally, senior captain, Logan Streety said, “This weekend, our top priority was having fun and playing as a team. We had high energy in warmups and in the locker room, music playing, people dancing, just really trying to enjoy the moment together.”
The Red Dragons key throughout the entire game was fast motion and offensive rebounds. The ball was brought up the court quickly, passes were made frequently with no hesitation, and everyone was on their toes anticipating the ball.
Right from the tip-off, the Red Dragons focused on placing screens against the Cardinals which provided them many opportunities to put up multiple shots during the first quarter, rattling the Cardinals out of their defensive rhythm.
The Red Dragons made frequent shots and drew multiple fouls, which were easily converted into points on the board as these foul shots were hardly missed. This led to the Cardinals facing difficulties, frequently stepping out of bounds, and only managing to score their first points of the 2nd quarter until later on ending the first half staggering 23 points down with a halftime score of 35-12.
Entering the 2nd half, the Red Dragons implemented double team defense strategy causing the Cardinals to have 18 turnovers within the 3rd quarter and the Red Dragons only having 6.
Emily Morano and Abby Wilkinson emerged as key players, leading the Red Dragon’s offense strongly during this half.
Although the Cardinals caught up to the Red Dragons pace going into the 4th quarter, it wasn’t enough to secure a comeback. Peterson-Ross for the Cardinals displayed remarkable leadership, making numerous baskets, and playing hard defense, but ultimately the Red Dragons took the win.
Abby Wilkinson said, “ I have been on many teams before and the communication we have on the court, off the court and everywhere in between is the best I have ever been a part of. We are going to keep doing what we do as a team and have fun while doing it.”