OSWEGO, NY – The women’s basketball team split their games this weekend to finish the season including their final win of the 2022-2023 season.

Friday’s game concluded with the Lakers losing to Brockport 53-49 in overtime. Very little happened in the first quarter as both teams struggled from the paint. The game started out with Brockport’s Anna Felice making a three-pointer to give the Golden Eagles a 3-0 lead. After that little happened between the two teams. The score was tied twice in the quarter with the Golden Eagles taking a 7-5 lead over the Lakers after quarter one. The Lakers went 20% the field and the Golden Eagles went 15.38% from the field. The second quarter was the same story as the first quarter. The quarter began with Chastin Giles making her first three-pointer of the day with 8:21 left in the second quarter. Less than 40 seconds later Sydney Hoefs would connect on her second three-pointer of the day to put the Lakers up 13-7. Juliana Logana would extend the Lakers lead to eight 15-7. The Golden Eagles would rally but the Lakers would lead 19-16 at halftime. Julia Logana and Sydney Hoefs would both lead the Lakers with six points at the half.

The third quarter would start with Zairea Hannah scoring to put the Golden Eagles down by one. The Lakers would respond about 30 seconds later with Caitie Lilly scoring to extend the Lakers lead to 21-18. The Golden Eagles manage to come close to taking the lead away from the Lakers but the Lakers held strong. Brockport struggled from the field in the second quarter going 3-16 and shooting 18.75%. The Lakers led 33-26 heading into the fourth quarter. Logan Castiglione helped extend the Lakers lead to ten connecting on a three-pointer with 9:10 left in the fourth quarter. Anna Lee would tie the game for the Golden Eagles at 41 with 1:27 left in the fourth quarter. The game would be tied at 41 going into overtime. In overtime, Zairea Hannah extended the Golden Eagles lead to 43-41 in the beginning of the overtime period. Chastin Giles would bring the Lakers back connecting on her second three-pointer of the game with 2:40 left in overtime. Shannon Blankenship would respond 28 seconds later making a three-pointer to help extend the Golden Eagles lead to 50-44 with 2:12 left in the game. Chastin Giles made a free-throw which brought the Lakers down 51-49 with 16 seconds left. Anna Felice would seal the Lakers fate with two free-throws to make the final score 53-49. Juliana Logana and Chastin Giles would both lead the Lakers with nine points on the day.

The second game saw the Lakers rebound from their loss against Brockport getting their final win of the season defeating the Fredonia Blue Devils 65-51. The Lakers found themselves in a bad position in the beginning of the first quarter trailing 8-0 with just 1:48 into the game, including giving up two three pointers to Fredonia’s Renee Park and Jaden Sciotti. Elaina Johnson would score the first points of the game for the Lakers to put them down 8-2. Sydney Hoefs made a three-pointer to bring the Lakers down by three and Shania Iglesias cut into the Blue Devils lead by cutting the Lakers deficit to just two at 10-8. The Lakers rallied to tie the game at 18 at the end of quarter one. Juliana Logana helped the Lakers take the lead at two at the beginning of the second quarter. With 4:50 left in the second quarter, Sydney Hoefs made another three-pointer to extend the Lakers lead to 12. Chastin Giles made a layup to extend the Lakers lead to 14 their biggest lead of the day so far in the game. Fredonia’s Allie Wandell made a three-pointer with 46 seconds left in the second quarter but the Lakers would lead 40-32 at the half.

The third quarter began with no scoring until 7:23 left in the third quarter with Mary Culeton making two free-throws to cut into the Lakers lead at 40-34. With 3:54 left in the third quarter Alena Wright cut into the Lakers lead at 41-38. The Lakers extended their lead to 49-38 at the end of the third quarter. Fredonia’s Sarah Seaman cut into he Lakers lead to seven making a three-pointer. Logan Castiglione made back-to-back three-pointers to seal the Blue Devils fate. Elaina Johnson added the final point of the day for the Lakers for their 65-51 win over the Blue Devils. The Lakers went off in terms of scoring as they had four double-digit scorers on the day with Logan Castiglione, Elaina Johnson, Sydney Hoefs, and Juliana Logana who would all finish the day with 10+ points. Elaina Johnson had a career game leading the Lakers with 18 points on the day. Sydney Hoefs would lead the Lakers in both games with 19 points and led the Lakers with four three-pointers in both games. Overall, Logan Castiglione would have a career year leading the Lakers in points with 209, her previous record was 119 points last season. Karleigh Leo was second on the team with 200 points as a transfer student who made an immediate impact right away. Shania Iglesias would also improve this season as she finished third on the team in points with 176.

The Lakers conclude the season with their best finish at 13-12 their best record since the 2012-2013 season. They’ll head into the 2023-2024 season with a lot of confidence after a resurgence year from their team.

PHOTO CREDITS PROVIDED BY OSWEGO STATE ATHLETICS

OSWEGO, NY – The Lakers celebrated senior day this past Saturday for Senior Payton Daeffler but unfortunately they couldn’t keep pace with the 19-4 Cortland Red Dragons falling 74-37.

The first quarter was a disaster for the Lakers as they allowed the Red Dragons to go up 13-0 with 5:25 in the first quarter as the Lakers had no answers for the Red Dragons. The Lakers would finally get on the board as Logan Castiglione would score to put the Lakers down 13-2. The Lakers began to rally at the end of the first quarter and made the score an eight point game but still trailed 17-9. The Lakers went 33.33% from the field in the first quarter while the Red Dragons went 40.00% from the field. The Lakers also hit a three-pointer in the first as Caitie Lilly knocked one down.

The second quarter started with Shania Iglesias scoring five points including a three-pointer to help the Lakers trail 17-14 in the early minutes of the second quarter. Unfortunately after this the Lakers were just outmatched and couldn’t keep pace with the Red Dragons as they trailed 30-18 at half. The Lakers were slightly better from the field by a small margin shooting from 40% while the Red Dragons despite the halftime lead shot from 28.57%.

The third quarter started with the Red Dragons putting up five points to begin the quarter. With 6:26 left in the third quarter Peyton Daeffler  scored her 101th point of her career as she eclipsed the 100-point barrier for her career. Shania Iglesias would knock down her second three-pointer with 3:49 left in the third quarter but the Lakers still trailed by 21 points. Shania Iglesias lead the Lakers with five points in the third quarter. The Lakers trailed the Red Dragons by a huge margin 55-33 at the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter saw the Red Dragons continue to extend their lead. The quarter started with Chastin Giles making two three-pointers to cut the Red Dragons lead to 20. The game was never close for the Lakers after the two free-throws. The Red Dragons would dominate the Lakers 74-37 making this their worst loss since losing to New Paltz two weeks ago. With the loss the Lakers have been eliminated from any chance of qualifying for the SUNYAC tournament. Despite this, the Lakers produced their best season in ten years and it was coach Pinkerton’s best season while coaching the Lakers.

The Lakers will travel to Brockport this Friday, February 17th. The Lakers will look to get back on track and avoid their losing their fifth straight game. The Lakers face a Golden Eagles who sits at 10-13 on the season currently and had gotten absolutely crushed by New Paltz 60-37 this past Saturday. The Golden Eagles have locked up a spot in the SUNYAC tournament so the Lakers will look to knock the Golden Eagles off balance and shake up the SUNYAC tournament seeding. New Paltz and Cortland are the top two seeds in the SUNYAC tournament. The Golden Eagles already defeated the Lakers 75-60 at the Max Ziel Gymnasium back on December 2nd.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY OSWEGO STATE ATHLETICS

OSWEGO, NY- It was a rough week for the Lakers as they lost both games this weekend falling to New Paltz 71-43 on Friday and then to Oneonta on Saturday 62-48.

In the first game against New Paltz it was all out domination for the Hawks against the Lakers. The Lakers started off on the wrong foot as they trailed 11-0 with 7:00 left in the first quarter. The Lakers finally got on the board with 6:43 left in the first quarter as Logan Castiglione would knock down a three to help the Lakers only trail 11-3. The Hawks continued to dominate the Lakers late into the first as they led 24-9 after quarter one. Logan Castiglione would lead the Lakers with five points after quarter number one. The Lakers faired decent from both the field and for three-pointers as they went 40% from the field and 50% for three-pointers. The second quarter would be a repeat of the first quarter for the Lakers. The Hawks would score in the beginning minutes of the second quarter as Jenny Walton made a layup in the paint to go up 26-9. The Hawks would lead by a huge margin of 42-13 heading into halftime.

The second half was a continuation of the first half for the Lakers. The Hawks would extend their lead to 45-13 in the early minutes of the third. The Lakers could never close the gap at all throughout the rest of the game. Oswego completely struggled in the third quarter from the field only managing to shoot 14.29% but went 75% from the free-throw line. The Hawks led by a 39-point margin at the end of the third quarter 60-21. The fourth quarter saw the Hawks continue to extend their lead as Julia Sabatino scored her sixth point of the game to extend the Hawks lead to 62-21. The Hawks would dominate winning 71-43. Brianna Fitzgerald would lead the Hawks with 20 points and Logan Castiglione would lead the Lakers with nine points. This marks the eighth time that the Lakers have lost by 15 points or more.

After a blowout loss to the Hawks, the Lakers were hoping to rebound against the Oneonta Red Dragons but unfortunately this wasn’t the case. Olivia Dobrovsky got the Red Dragons on the board first to make it 2-0. Sydney Hoefs would score with 7:09 left in the first quarter to cut the Red Dragons lead to two. The score was tied at 13 at the end of the first quarter. Oswego faired well from the field at 50%. The second quarter started with Juliana Logana scoring to give the Lakers the early lead in the second quarter but it only took the Red Dragons just 25 seconds to tie the game at 15. The Lakers would extend their led to 31-23 with just 45 seconds left but the Red Dragons would knock down a three as the Lakers led 31-26 at half.

Giavanna Principio-White would extend the Lakers lead to seven at the beginning of the third. Oneonta found its way back in the game in the third as Meg Nardelli hit a three-pointer to draw within one, Nardelli would then score again less than a minute later to give the Red Dragons a 37-36 lead with 3:50 left. The Lakers found themselves trailing 46-41 at the end of the third quarter. The Lakers could get nothing going in the fourth quarter especially in the opening minutes of the fourth. The Red Dragons would continue to extend their lead in the fourth. Jenna Harclerode knocked down a three-pointer to put Oneonta up 53-43 over the Lakers as the Lakers found themselves in a tough position that they couldn’t get out of for the rest of the game. The Red Dragons took down the Lakers 62-48. Logan Castiglione would lead the Lakers in points for both games with 20.

The Lakers look to get back in the win column as they host the Cortland Red Dragons on Friday, February 10th at the Max Ziel Gymnasium. Oswego faces a Red Dragons team that is at the top of the SUNYAC this season with Cortland coming off a flat loss to New Platz 64-46. Oswego was absolutely dominated in the game they faced against Cortland back on January 13th 75-30. The Lakers have lost six straight to Cortland dating back to the 2018-2019 season. Their last win against Cortland came on January 12, 2019 winning 70-57.

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OSWEGO, NY- The Lakers ended up splitting their games this weekend as they won on Friday against Plattsburgh but lost on Saturday to Potsdam.

The Lakers started off the weekend with an impressive performance against the Plattsburgh Cardinals winning 53-48. The Lakers would lead 12-7 halfway through the first quarter with Sydney Hoefs scoring five points in the first quarter. The second quarter saw the score tied three times with the Lakers leading 33-28 at the half. Chastin Giles would have nine second quarter points. She would lead the Lakers at the half with 11 points. Oswego would go 63.64% in the second quarter and went 66% from the three-point line.

The second half saw the Lakers extend their lead to 40-28 early in the third quarter. The Cardinals would rally at the end of the third to only trail by seven. The Lakers struggled from the field in the third quarter as they were only 26.67% from the field in the quarter. The Lakers would extend their lead to ten early in the fourth as Sydney Hoefs connected on her second three-pointer of the game to give the Lakers a 45-35. A late rally by the Cardinals would fail as the Lakers would hold off Plattsburgh. Hoefs would lead the Lakers on the day with 15 points a season-high for her and Chastin Giles would post a season best 13 points in the game.

The Lakers would then take on the Potsdam Bears on Saturday but would lose 64-33. The Lakers would trail early 4-0 and would trail 19-14 at the end of the first quarter. Sydney Hoefs would lead the Lakers at the end of the first quarter with five points. The Lakers had immense struggles from the field only shooting 28.57% in both the first and second quarter. Potsdam fared from much better from the field shooting 42.86%. Giavanna Principio-White would lead the Lakers at the half with six points. The Bears would lead the Lakers 31-19 at the half.

The second half was a continuation of the first half with more struggles for the Lakers. The Lakers would only shoot 11.11% from the field, their worst shooting % from the field in a quarter this season since their game against Geneseo only January 24th only managing to shoot 13.33%. Oswego managed to only score three points in the third quarter while allowing Potsdam to score 16 more points as the Bears lead by a huge margin 47-22 at the end of the third. The fourth quarter began with Principio-White connecting on a three-pointer but the Lakers still trailed 47-25. Oswego would lose 64-33 to Potsdam which was their eighth straight loss to the Bears and their worst loss to them since they first faced off in 1971.

The Lakers will host the New Paltz Hawks on Friday, February 3rd at the Max Ziel Gymnasium at 5:30. The Lakers face a Hawks squad who have won 12 games in a row this season and are on of the top two teams SUNYAC . The Lakers will look to end a ten-game losing streak to the Hawks. New Paltz beat Oswego 74-47 this season back on January 21st.

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POTSDAM, NY- The Lakers fell short to the Potsdam Bears 64-54 in Potsdam on Saturday in a game where the Lakers took the lead early but were unable to capitalize in the second half.

The first quarter started off the way the Lakers wanted to draw it up as both Logan Castiglione and Shania Iglesias connected on three-pointers to give the Lakers a 6-2 lead with 8:11 in the first quarter. Castiglione would lead the Lakers at the end of the first quarter with eight points including two three-pointers. The Lakers would shoot from over 50% in the field in the first. The Lakers would lead 17-9 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter started with the Bears going on a 9-0 run to take an 18-17 lead over the Lakers. The Lakers struggled from the field only shooting from 25% in the quarter. Shania Iglesias led the Lakers with nine points at the half. The Lakers barely edged out the Bears at the half leading 26-24.

The second half started with Karleigh Leo making a layup to give the Lakers a 28-24 lead early in the third. After a missed three-pointer by Diamond Pickett, the Bears went on a 6-0 run that included a three-pointer as they took a 35-29 with 3:57 left in the third. The Bears managed to shoot at 57.14% from the field in third compared to Oswego’s 40%. The Bears would knock down three three-pointers in the third as they led the Lakers 43-39 at the end of the third quarter.

The Lakers managed to cut the lead to two with two Diamond Pickett free-throws. Karleigh Leo would hit the Lakers only three-pointer of the second half to cut the Potsdam lead to two at 48-46. The Lakers were unable to rally to tie the game or take the lead as the Bears maintained their lead throughout the rest of the fourth quarter. The Bears would knock down three more three-pointers in the fourth quarter as they would score six total three-pointers in the second half. The Bears would go on to win 64-54.

The Lakers will face off in Plattsburgh against the Cardinals on Sunday, December 11th at Memorial Hall. The Cardinals are coming off an embarrassing blowout to Cortland 70-39.

PHOTO CREDITS PROVIDED BY OSWEGO STATE ATHLETICS

OSWEGO, NY- The Lakers extended their winning streak to seven after defeating the Fredonia Blue Devils 76-66. Throughout most of the game, it was a back-and-forth battle between the Blue Devils and the Lakers before the Lakers pulled away in the fourth quarter.

Diamond Pickett got the Lakers on the board first.  A minute later Karleigh Leo would add her first three-pointer of the game to make the score 5-0. Leo led the Lakers with ten points in the first quarter followed by Diamond Pickett with four. The Lakers started out the second quarter with a three-pointer from Chastin Giles who was pretty active in scoring for the Lakers against the Blue Devils. The Lakers led 22-15 at the beginning of the second quarter before squandering six straight points to the Blue Devils only leading by one 22-21. Fredonia rallied with three minutes left in the half to take the lead 30-28 as Kyla Smith scored all five points for the Blue Devils during that run.

The third quarter saw the Lakers take the momentum away from the Blue Devils but were outshot by the Blue Devils 64.4% compared to the Laker’s 42.2%. Leo would help the Lakers retake the lead with another three-pointer to give them a 36-34 lead with 7:35 left in the third. Leo led the Lakers at the end of the third quarter with 13 points followed by Diamond Pickett with 12 and Iglesias with nine. The Lakers led 56-53 at the end of the third.

The Lakers started out the fourth quarter with both Logan Castiglione and Chastin Giles hitting back-to-back three’s to extend the Lakers lead to 8. Karleigh Leo hit a three-pointer with 4:31 left to extend the Lakers lead to ten 69-59. This forced the Blue Devils to burn one of their timeouts. The Blue Devils would commit six fouls in the final two minutes of the game which included Renee Park who was disqualified from the game after her fifth foul of the game. The Lakers made five free throws to extend the score 76-66 to win the game. Karleigh Leo once again led the Lakers in scoring with 23 points as she is averaging 19.5 points/per game. Leo is currently #1 in D3 Women’s Basketball in three-pointers made with 28, three-point attempts with 73, and three-pointers per game with 4.67. Diamond Pickett had another stellar performance with 16 points along with Shania Iglesias with 14 points.  Chastin Giles played impressively as well with ten points on the day.

The Lakers will be back in the Max Ziel Gymnasium on Friday, December 2nd to take on the Brockport Golden Eagles at 5:30 PM. The Lakers are searching for their first 8-0 start since the 2004-05 season where they finished that season 24-4. The Lakers are looking to defeat Brockport for the first time since the 2019-20 season when they defeated them 69-62 in Brockport. The Golden Eagles are coming off a 71-63 win over Buffalo State improving their record to 2-2 on the season and 1-0 in the SUNYAC.

PHOTO CREDITS PROVIDED BY OSWEGO STATE ATHLETICS