(Potsdam, N.Y.)-The SUNY Canton women's basketball team fought back from a large second-half deficit but came up short against the University of Maine at Presque Isle who handed the Roos a 57-53 loss Thursday afternoon in Potsdam. The Roos dropped to 7-3 in the Sunrise Conference and 10-11 overall while the Owls moved to 9-3 and 9-12.
Both teams will most likely meet again in the first round of the conference tournament next week in Concord, N.H.
SUNY Canton found themselves trailing 50-31 with 10:50 left in the second half before mounting their comeback. The Roos reeled off 11 straight points to pull within eight points at 50-42.
Heather Lottie (Canton, N.Y.) and
Abbey Shoen (Waddington, N.Y.) each had four points during that run.
Presque Isle stretched the lead back to 13 points with a 5-0 run of their own behind a 3-pointer from Emily Pelletier and a pair of free throws from Kathy Kilfoil.
Lottie then scored three straight points to get the lead back to eight at 55-47 with under five minutes left.
The Owls then went cold as they missed four shots from the field and six from the free throw line that allowed SUNY Canton to pull even closer.
A 6-0 run capped off by a pair of free throws from
Brittany Kenyon (Hammond, N.Y.) made it a two-point game with under a minute to go. But Kenyon couldn't convert on a layup and
Shannon LaFave (Ogdensburg, N.Y.) misfired from three-point range and the Owls finally made two free throws in the waning seconds to hold on for the win.
SUNY Canton had to make their comeback after coming out flat in the first half. They scored just four points in the first 10 minutes of the game, shot 17 percent from the floor, hit only 2 of 13 three-point attempts and trailed 27-15 at halftime.
Lottie scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed six rebounds. LaFave finished with 11 points and five boards and Shoen contributed 10 points and three rebounds.
Emily Moore led the Owls with 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Pelletier finished with 13 points on three 3-pointers.
