Cortland Sports Information Department
HARTFORD, CONN. – Emily Morano (Olyphant, PA/Mid Valley) scored 24 points as the Cortland women's basketball team defeated Saint Vincent College, 62-51, in the opening round of the NCAA Division III tournament at Trinity College.
The Red Dragons (24-4) will face either Trinity or Notre Dame (Md.) in the second round Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Cortland is making its third straight NCAA appearance and 13th overall, and the Red Dragons have now won at least one game in seven of their 13 national showings.
Morano hit 9-of-15 shots, including 4-of-7 3-pointers and also registered five rebounds. Casey Travers (Manorville/Eastport-South Manor) finished with 15 points, four rebounds and two steals, Nyia Longford (Medford/Longwood) ended with seven points, five rebounds and four assists, and Fiona Mullen (Orangeburg/Tappan Zee) scored seven points. Julia Siler (Seaford) led Cortland with five assists and pulled down seven rebounds, while Sarah Tully (East Aurora) scored six points and led the Red Dragons with 11 rebounds.
Emily Cavacini paced Saint Vincent (22-5) with 17 points and three assists. She hit three 3-pointers in seven attempts. Ella Marconi and Emily Thompson each scored 12 points, with Marconi leading the Bearcats with 10 rebounds, and Madison Weber finished with six points and nine rebounds.
Both teams shot 34 percent from the field, but Cortland turned 19 offensive rebounds into a 20-6 advantage in second-chance points.
Cortland trailed 14-9 with 3:01 left in the first quarter but finished the period on a 10-2 run that included five points from Longford. The 19-16 lead grew to 27-16 in the first six minutes of the second quarter on baskets from Tully, Travers, Morano and Longford.
Cortland led 33-25 at halftime. The Bearcats were as close as 38-33 on a Cavacini trey with 7:56 left in the third, but Cortland scored 12 of the next 14 points, including all seven of Mullen's points and five from Morano, to go up 50-35 with 2:48 remaining in the quarter. The Red Dragons' lead dropped to 10 points at 50-40 after three periods but remained in double figures the entire fourth quarter.
