After a first half that was back and forth, Fredonia's 12-0 third-quarter run keyed the women's basketball team in a 66-57 win over Plattsburgh on Saturday. Jenna Einink (Westfield, N.Y. / Chautauqua Lake) led all scorers with 18 points and Sydney Turley (Cheetowaga,/Cleveland Hill) had 10.
Emily Lasher (Wilson/Wilson) added nine off the bench, and Jacque Law (Lime Lake/Pioneer), Alisha Szumigala (Forestville/Forestville), and Anna Chiacchia (Hamburg/Hamburg) all had eight points. Szumigala had eight rebounds, while Law added six assists.
Nursing a one-point lead, 31-30, the Devils began their run on a wide open layup from Einink with an assist from Law. The next 10 points repeated that pattern -- uncontested layups following an assist. The final basket by Law from Turley gave the Devils a 43-30 lead.
Chiacchia scored all eight of her points in the third quarter. Fredonia held a 51-40 lead at the end of three.
In the fourth, a Frannie Merkle layup pulled the Cardinals within six points, 51-45, with 7:37 to play. Fredonia responded with a 9-2 run aided by a technical foul resulting in a pair of free throws. Five of the points came from the line during that spurt. Fredonia finished the game going 15 of 19 (79 percent) from the charity stripe.
In the final minute, Plattsburgh used a press to cause a pair of turnovers and again pulled within six, 62-56, with 44 seconds left to play. Lasher and Turley both made a pair of free throws for Fredonia to put the game on ice.
Einink scored 14 of her 18 points in the first half. She nailed a buzzer beater as time ran out in the first quarter to tie the game 13-all. The Devils worked a 31-28 lead at halftime.
Fredonia shot 42 percent from the floor, with the Cardinals hitting on 31 percent of their attempts. Plattsburgh held a 39-35 edge in rebounds.
Plattsburgh (4-8 overall, 3-3 SUNYAC) was led by Taylor Durnin with 13 points and Taylor Clare with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Merkle had 13 boards.
The win gives the Devils the weekend sweep of Potsdam and Plattsburgh and ups their conference record to 4-2 and 6-7 overall. The team travels to Geneseo on Tuesday.
