SUNY Potsdam women’s basketball downed by Cortland

POTSDAM, N.Y. – The SUNY Potsdam women’s basketball team shot 29.1 percent on Friday night, falling against Cortland 70-48 in a State University of New York Athletic Conference showdown at Maxcy Hall’s Jerry Welsh Gymnasium.

The Bears (3-18 overall, 2-12 SUNYAC) remained close for most of the first half until Cortland knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers in the final 36 seconds of the period to take a 34-17 into the locker room.

“I’m pleased with our overall effort,” Potsdam coach Tara Ruckh said. “The first half was tight before we gave up those threes at the end and couldn’t score near the end of the half. Our fight was definitely there, it just comes down to execution. When we run our stuff, we get open looks.”

Potsdam continued to fight in the second half in front of a large crowd on the school’s eighth annual Bear Pride Night, but could get no closer than 17 as the Red Dragons (16-4, 11-3) continued to shoot well from the perimeter in the frame.

“I thought we executed offensively and limited our turnovers in the second half,” Ruchk said. “We did give up 11 offensive rebounds, and nine came in the second half, so we need to clean that up a little bit.”

Senior captain Aimee Kellicutt (Lisle, N.Y.) paced the Bears with 14 points and five rebounds. Fellow senior captain Brittany Whitton (DeKalb, N.Y.) chipped in with eight points, four rebounds and three steals. Freshman Hannah Kmiecinski (Webster, N.Y.) grabbed a team-high six rebounds for Potsdam, which totaled 14 points off the bench compared to 10 for Cortland.

The Bears return to the floor tomorrow against Oswego at 2 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear pink and support the Bears’ Pink Zone effort to raise money for breast cancer awareness and research. Pink t-shirts will be sold at the door for $10, with all proceeds to benefit the Kay Yow Cancer Fund.