Cortland, Oneonta To Meet In SUNYAC Championship

UTICA, N.Y. - The Red Dragon showdown is set. After finishing the regular conference season tied at 14-2, the top two seeds, Cortland and Oneonta, will settle the score in the SUNYAC title game on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. in Utica. Cortland dropped the fourth-seeded Geneseo Knights 72-58 and Oneonta edged third-seeded Oswego 54-49.

Gabrielle Doemel's (Latham/Holy Names) basket with 27 ticks left in the game broke a 49-49 tie and proved to be the game-winner for Oneonta in the first women's semifinal. Oswego had the ball and a chance to tie or take the lead following the basket but turned the ball over with 11 seconds left. Oneonta led 31-22 at the half but the Lakers managed to tie the score with just under five minutes gone in the second half. Neither team managed more than a five-point lead the rest of the way as the two squads battled back and forth until the final horn. Melissa Donahue (Niverville/Ichabod Crane) had 14 points and 11 boards to lead the Red Dragons and Heather Berger (Shusan/Salem) added 14 points of her own. Oswego's Kelly Mraz (Johnstown/Johnstown) led all scorers with 15.

In the second game, Cortland broke open the game and took a 26-6 lead with eight minutes to go in the first half and got up by as many as 27 points in the second half en route the win. The Knights, down 27 points, climbed back into the game late and cut it to eight with 1:11 left but could get no closer. Michelle Ciquera (Massapequa/Massapequa) poured in 26 points to lead the Red Dragons. Felisa Brown (Tonawanda/Kenmore East) scored 19 for the Knights.

Jeannette Yeoman's Red Dragons now will play in their sixth consecutive SUNYAC Championship game. Cortland won the title in 1999 and 2000 but is 0-3 the last three years in the final game. Oneonta won the title in both the 1998 and 2001 seasons.