Devils overcome slow start, ground Cardinals
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Women's basketball
FREDONIA STATE 63, PLATTSBURGH 53
FREDONIA, N.Y. -- Fredonia State remained unbeaten in the SUNYAC with a 63-53 victory over the Plattsburgh Cardinals at Steele Hall Saturday afternoon.
Merissa Gaeta (Kirkwood/Windsor) had her second straight double-double -- 18 points and 12 rebounds -- to lead the Blue Devils to 7-2 overall, 3-0 in the conference. Gaeta had 11 points and 11 rebounds Friday night vs. Potsdam.
Grace Moore (Fredonia) added 12 points with five steals, while Katie Landy (Jamestown/Southwestern) had 10 points and nine rebounds. Nicole Calbi (Olean) was the Blue Devils' top playmaker with six assists.
For Plattsburgh, now 2-8 overall and 0-4 in the SUNYAC, Stephanie McCoy (Kingston) led the scoring with 16 points while Taylor Amarando (Niskayuna/Colonie) had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Blue Devils started slowly, failing behind by as many as eight points, before making a run right before halftime. Gaeta kept her team in the game with nine points in the early going, and Calbi knocked down a trey to forge an 18-18 tie. Calbi put the Blue Devils on top, 20-18, with a fastbreak basket, which prompted a 30-second timeout by Plattsburgh. The Cardinals gained some traction, regained and then traded the lead with the Blue Devils over the next few minutes. Consecutive baskets by Brittany Evans (Odessa/Odessa-Montour) and Lindsay Schwab (Avon) sent the Blue Devils into intermission with a 30-29 lead.
Fredonia State's Caroline Hourihan (Buffalo/Nardin) opened the second half with a three-point basket to up the lead to four points. The Cardinals trimmed their deficit to two moments later, but could get no closer. The Blue Devils took their first double-digit lead, 41-31, on a basket by Gaeta early in the second half, and never looked back.