Devils clinch SUNYAC berth
The Fredonia women's basketball team defeated Oneonta, 57-49, Feb, 4 and clinched a playoff berth in the SUNYAC tournament.
Senior Alexis Cheatham (Lockport/Lockport) scored a game-high 21 points and added four assists. Jenna Einink (Westfield/Chautauqua Lake), Jacque Law (Machais/Pioneer), Alisha Szumigala (Forestville/Forestville), and Khee Nance (Dunkirk/Dunkirk) all finished with six points apiece. Szumigala snatched nine rebounds.
Fredonia jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead after two Cheatham threes and a jumper from Law. The Devils led by as many as 12 in the first frame after Einink finished in traffic with 2:53 on the clock giving the Devils a 19-7 lead. They led 19-11 at the end of one quarter.
A steal and score in transition from Jamie Curry (Ransomville/Wilson) put the Devils back up by 10 in the opening seconds of the period, 21-11, Fredonia.
Oneonta went on a 16-4 run and found themselves in the lead, 27-25, after two made free throws from Alexa Amalbert with just over two minutes left in the half. Nance buried a three-pointer with 1:03 left to put Fredonia back ahead by one.
A Red Dragon free throw just before the break tied it up 28-all at intermission.
The Devils trailed most of the third quarter until a three-point play from junior Emily Lasher (Wilson/Wilson) put Fredonia back ahead by two in the last minute of play. Lasher finished with five points.
A layup from Oneonta's Cara Adams with eight ticks on the clock tied the score at 44 before the start of the fourth quarter.
A Lasher jumper eight seconds into the final period sparked a 6-0 run which included layups from Einink and Szumigala. Fredonia would not trail the rest of the game. Oneonta would come as close as one point in the final 3:14 of the game.
Late free throws from Law and Cheatham helped secure the victory and a spot in the SUNYAC tournament.
The Blue Devils shot 21-of-57 (37 percent) from the field to Oneonta's 18-of-61 (30 percent). Fredonia was also a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. The Dragons shot 10-of-16.
Cheatham also continued her march up the Fredonia record books. She now ranks third all time with 1,286 points, overtaking Shelly Giardini (1,251) this weekend. Cheatham is also No. 3 in assists (367), having overtaken Karolyn Baker who had 357 from 2003-07.
The Blue Devils improve to 16-6 overall and 10-5 in the SUNYAC. They return home Friday and Saturday as they play host to Oswego State and Cortland as part of a men's/women's double-header action.
