Box Score KEUKA PARK, N.Y. – Any Wildcat fan would be happy to see the SUNY Poly Women's Basketball Team (3-2, 2-0 NEAC) head into Christmas Break with a 2-0 NEAC record. And if one of those wins was over the Wildcats' biggest rival, Keuka? Well surely there must be room under the tree for one more present.
Indeed, Christmas came early for the Wildcats in a 62-49 road victory over the Keuka Wolfpack (1-5, 1-1 NEAC). Plenty of credit belongs to the Keuka program; an early regular season win such as this wouldn't be so meaningful to the Wildcats if it weren't for the Wolfpack having held the upper-hand in the rivalry the last few years.
As for the game itself, the Wildcats came out roaring as SUNY Poly stormed out to a 12-2 lead to start the game. After the initial shock the Wolfpack rebounded to put some points on the board, trading baskets to make it 21-12 with 5:40 to play in the half. Fans seemed poised for another classic down-to-the-wire game between the two teams. Those fans clearly hadn't counted on Wildcat point guard Emily Alicea (Mohegan Lake, N.Y. / Lakeland) channeling her inner-Steve Kerr. The junior point guard, known more for her steadying presence at the helm of the Wildcat offense than her scoring, proceeded to knock down three 3-pointers in just the next 1:29 of the game, helping to spark a 21-6 Wildcat run that took the visitors into the locker room up by an almost shocking 42-18 margin.
Alicea went on to finish with one of her best games in a SUNY Poly uniform. She netted a game-high 18 points on 4-of-7 from beyond the arc. Perhaps more impressive was that the rest of her game didn't suffer one bit, as Alicea dished out 6 assists and had a whopping 7 steals on the night.
Keuka did its best to mount a comeback in the second half and was able to stoke a loud home crowd with a few good runs. The Wolfpack out scored the Wildcats 31-20 in the second frame but weren't able to overcome the big first-half deficit. That was thanks in large part to the Wildcats defense: SUNY Poly held the home team to just 31% shooting on the day, and out rebounded Keuka 42 to 35.
A day removed from her incredible 35-point performance against Wells, Geena Gallo (Ballston Spa, N.Y. / Ballston Spa) came back to Earth with just 8 points on a tough shooting night. The junior co-captain showed great leadership, however, by focusing her efforts on defense. She finished with 10 rebounds, tied for the team-high with rookie Molly MacLachlin (Marcellus, N.Y. / Marcellus). MacLachlin had a fantastic game as well and earned the team's only double-double: 14 points, 10 rebounds.
Always a double-double threat herself, forward Lauren Knowles (Salisbury Mills, N.Y. / Washingtonville) continued to muscle her way toward what one imagines will likely be the junior's first all-conference selection at the end of the year, finishing with 16 points on 7-11 shooting, 9 rebounds, and even dishing out 3 assists.
For the home team there weren't too many bright spots. This year's Wolfpack team is most certainly struggling to figure out where their points will come from after losing several seniors that guided the program over the last 4 seasons. Leading the way as the only player in double-figures was Amanda Kubitz, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double.
The Wildcats will now return home for their final home game before the new year. They host Cortland State this Saturday, December 13th, at 12:00 pm.
