By: Pat Louer
BROCKPORT, N.Y. - Down by one late in the game, Brockport women's basketball head coach Corrine Jones put three seniors and two juniors on the floor. Their experience came through putting Brockport over the Hamilton Continentals 78-71.
Senior guard Shannon Blankenship knocked down a three midway into the fourth quarter to put Brockport up two. Even though it was her lone field goal of the game, Blankenship's fingerprints were all over this game. Whether it was taking a charge with just under a minute left or posting a team-high 17 plus-minus for the Golden Eagles, the senior captain made her veteran presence felt.
Graduate forward Kaileigh Hunt added another level of veteran presence. In her 19 minutes on the floor, she recorded a team-high 17 points and crucial free throws down the stretch to help the Golden Eagles stretch the lead to five late in the game.
"Being patient in our possessions," Hunt said. When something didn't happen, we crashed and made something happen."
Brockport came out of the gate in its patented 2-2-1 defense and created instant chaos. Freshman guard Peyton Maneri was everywhere for the Golden Eagles. Although fouling out late in the game, Maneri started the first quarter off with an and-1 to go along with nine points, a team-high in the first half.
Coming into the contest, perimeter defense was a point of emphasis for Brockport. Hamilton Freshman guard Hannah Bernstein had hit seven in her first two games, and the Continentals hit 11 threes in their opener against Hartwick. Junior guard Cole Tessa also hit four against the Golden Eagles last season.
"We just have to treat everyone like they're shooters," Jones said.
The Golden Eagles took this challenge on head-first. Holding Hamilton to 1-23 from beyond the arc, the Golden Eagles buckled down in the paint.
Hamilton has three bigs that stand over six feet tall. Two of them, Kendall Harris and Taylor Lambo, combined for 45 points total. Lambo was getting whatever she wanted in the first half, which saw an early 14-point Brockport lead disappear in the second quarter. Hamilton amassed 20 points in the paint and took a 39-37 lead heading into halftime. A big contributor to holding down the fort was freshman forward Leah Thompson. The Hilton native stepped into the game and immediately contributed an and-1. She had 14 solid minutes in defending the length of Hamilton. The freshman duo of forward Claire Turner and Thompson combined for 14 rebounds as well.
The Brockport defense remained extremely active into the second half. Junior guard Cameron Tooley and freshman guard Peyton Maneri combined for seven steals and 23 points off turnovers. Whether it was a 2-3 zone packing in the paint or highly aggressive man-to-man defense, the Golden Eagles allowed just 6 points in the paint in the second half.
In what was a back-and-forth affair in the second half, big free throws late from junior standout guard Stephanie Jean-Baptiste and Blankenship sealed the deal for the Golden Eagles. 63 free throws were a result of a physical basketball game.
"Just toughness, wanting to win," Hunt said.
With Kaileigh Hunt's last trip to the line, Brockport's free throw percentage grew to 80 percent (21-26) from the line in comparison to Hamilton's 70 percent (26-37).
Discipline at the line and toughness led the Golden Eagles to success. The Golden Eagles are now 2-0 at home and 3-1 overall. They'll travel to William-Smith to face the Herons on Saturday and tipoff is set for 12:30 p.m.
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