MORRISVILLE, N.Y. – The SUNY Morrisville women's basketball team fought off a Fighting Tiger squad late in the fourth quarter to hold on for a slim 79-78 North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Tournament first round victory, advancing to the semifinals Saturday held at SUNY Poly.

THE BASICS:

• Final Score: Morrisville 79, Cobleskill 78 (halftime: Morrisville 45-38)
• Location: STUAC Gymnasium, Morrisville, N.Y.
• Records: Morrisville 17-8, Cobleskill 12-14

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Second seeded SUNY Morrisville women's basketball escaped with a first round win in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) championship tournament Tuesday night, fighting off a feisty SUNY Cobleskill squad by a slim 79-78 margin on the Mustangs home court in Morrisville.
• Changing leads four times throughout the contest, Cobleskill got a tremendous effort from guard Nylasia Sutton who poured in a game high 29 points to go along with her nine rebounds.
• Anna Post added 23 in the efforts, snagging a best 21 boards, as the Cobleskill Fighting Tigers outgained the host Morrisville Mustangs 61-32 in rebounds.
• Morrisville, though, was able to pull out the victory with a combined effort from starting guards Alexis Campbell (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Tori Rockefeller (South Kortright, N.Y.) who collected 42 of the team's total 79 points.
• Campbell led the way with 24, adding three rebounds and two assists, while Rockefeller posted 18, adding two assists and a steal.
• Freshman Brooke Hammersley (Weedsport, N.Y.) was the difference maker for the hosts, adding a collegiate high 19 off the bench in her 24 minutes of action, hitting 4-of-6 from behind the arc, while collecting five rebounds.
• A-laya Wright (Henrietta, N.Y.) and Miranda Wright (Smyrna, N.Y.) each collected eight rebounds on the defensive glass, with A-laya adding a team high four steals.
• Morrisville led 66-53 after three quarters, and opened with a three from Hammersley to extend the lead to 16, but the visiting Fighting Tigers clawed their way back into the contest with a 13-0 run, and was able to maintain a single digit deficit for the remainder of the contest.
• Cobleskill pulled within one with 1:17 to go in the contest, and forced the Mustangs to earn the win from the line, where they hit 4-of-6 attempts.
• A last second effort by Sutton from long range fell short for Cobleskill and Morrisville was able to advance with the 79-78 victory.

 
WHAT'S NEXT:
 

• Morrisville will face the South Division top seed Lancaster Bible College on Saturday at 4 p.m. at SUNY Polytechnic, the host site for the NEAC tournament.