Brockport defense dominates Hartwick

By: Dylan O'Loughlin

BROCKPORT, NY --- The Brockport Golden Eagles Women's Basketball squad hosted the Hartwick Hawks on day two of a back-to-back in search for its seven straight victory. Brockport controlled the game defensively, as the Golden Eagles caused 27 turnovers for 27 points en route to a 81-46 victory.

Brockport earned its seventh straight victory in the Golden Eagles largest victory of the season. (Photo: Anderson Stoker)

"I mean it was an okay performance defensively. I still wanted more," Brockport Head Coach Corinne Jones said. "I thought we finished the game really well and that's what I asked our players to do is let's have a great fourth quarter."

After a back and forth first quarter that ended with a five-point Golden Eagle lead, the Brockport defense clamped down from there. The Golden Eagles went on to cause eight turnovers for 10 points that increased Brockport's lead to 10 at halftime.

Leading the charge in the second quarter was senior guard Stephanie Jean-Baptiste who netted nine of her game-high 19 points off the bench in the quarter. The No. 2 Empire 8 scorer (18.9 PPG) bounced back off the bench after putting up a season-low six points in the victory against Russell Sage the night prior.

"Resilient and a dawg. She's (SJB) just a dawg," sophomore guard Peyton Maneri said.

In the third quarter, Hartwick came out quickly with a response. The Hawks went on an 8-5 run to cut the lead to seven with 4:32 remaining in the third quarter. That ended up being the closest Hartwick came to the lead for the rest of the game.

Stephanie Jean-Baptiste's game-high 19 points was the 17th time the senior scored double-figures this season. (Photo: Anderson Stoker)

From there, the Golden Eagles garnered eight steals and caused 11 turnovers as Brockport went on a 39-11 run to end the game with its largest lead at one point being 37 points.

Leading the defensive charge was Maneri and sophomore forward Claire Turner. Maneri finished with a three steals in the victory while Turner added a team-high four steals and two blocks.

"I think a lot of it comes from the trust I have for my teammates," Maneri said. "I know on my back-tips that my team is always going to be there to grab a steal. Our defense is our mentality when it comes to stuff like this, not offense. I can keep the ball, my teammates are going to run and I'm going to find them."

On the day for the Golden Eagles, Jean-Baptiste led all scorers with 19 points, three rebounds and a steal while junior guard Brianna Carey posted 12 points, two assists and a steal. Maneri stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, six assists, four boards and three steals while Turner was just shy of a double-double with nine points and nine boards along with three assists. Junior guard Mandy Brink chipped in eight points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals while junior Mallory Turner picked up six points in the final 10 minutes.

For Maneri, its her second game in a row scoring double-figures after notching a season-high 15 points against Russell Sage. Before then, the sophomore was in a slump during the month of January only scoring single-digits in six of the last seven outings before this weekend.

"I just went out there, it was all mental," Maneri said. "I think I got myself in a slump, but having my teammates bring me up and just telling me to 'play the game that you play,' I think having them by my side was the biggest thing I needed."

Peyton Maneri (#5) drives to the basket in Brockport's victory over Hartwick. (Photo: Anderson Stoker)

For Hartwick, Macy Durkin did it all with nine points, 10 rebounds, four steals and two assists while Niamh Kelly poured in eight points. Kylie Guarino followed with six points and three boards while Yadira Smith finished with five points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.

With the win, it is now Brockport's seventh straight victory and second in a row at home. Next up for the Golden Eagles though is the reigning Empire 8 champions, the Geneseo Knights in a rematch of the E8 Finals.

For Brockport, its about treating it like every other game.

"We've been going into every day 0-0," Jones said. "I think we enjoy this win, enjoy our day off, practice well on Monday and then we'll get to them on Tuesday."

Brockport improves to 13-6 overall and 9-1 in conference play, which moves the Golden Eagles up to second in the standings, just two games behind Nazareth. For Hartwick, the Hawks fall to a 4-16 overall record and 1-10 in Empire 8 action.

Brockport looks ahead to its rematch on Tuesday Feb. 3rd hosting the Geneseo Knights (14-4, 8-1). Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. 89.1 the Point will have live coverage of this matchup with pregame starting at 5:15 p.m.