By: Matt Hanes
BROCKPORT, N.Y. – The Brockport Golden Eagles women’s basketball team added another win to their eight-game win streak with an 83-59 win over the Alfred Saxons. The Golden Eagles have now beaten nine teams by 20+ points.
The Saxons started things off just 54 seconds into the game with Natalee Collins finding a layup down in the post. This lead would be the only lead of the game for Alfred. Kaileigh Hunt was quick to respond, tying up the game with two free throws while captain Shannon Blankenship drained the lead-taking free throw just 40 seconds later.
Hunt finished with an efficient 14 points on 66.7% shooting as well as five rebounds and three steals. Blankenship finished with six points, two steals and three rebounds.
Brockport kept the pace throughout the rest of the first quarter with both Jackie Kozakiewicz and Mandy Brink finding back-to-back 3-pointers, helping Brockport end the first quarter up 22-12.
Kozakiewicz finished with a career-high 12 points, shooting four-for-six from the field including two threes as well as two free throws.
“I felt confident today, so that was it. It was great,” Kozakiewicz said. “I don’t know how to describe it, but I was very confident.”
Brockport stole the show throughout the entire second half, shooting 10-for-16 from the field as a team. Stephanie Jean-Baptiste made her mark with back-to-back layups to spark up the offense, helping the Golden Eagles finish the first half up 45-20.
Peyton Maneri picked up where the Golden Eagles left off with a three-pointer just 24 seconds into the game, followed by a mid-range pull-up after an assist from Jean-Baptiste.
Maneri finished with 15 points, three rebounds, and a steal.
“Every time she goes through, I just think it’s going in," Kozakiewicz said. "Even if it doesn't, she's going to get the next one. I’m very proud of her.”
Brockport’s bench took over throughout the fourth, scoring 14 of the 15 points in the last 10 minutes of play and finishing with 37 total points as opposed to 17 for the Saxons.
The Golden Eagles’ patented full-court press style has led to the sixth-best turnover margin in the nation. The Saxon ended with 23 turnovers and allowed 21 points off of them. 10 separate Brockport players also finished with a steal.
“We have a goldfish mentality,” Kozakiewicz said. “When you make mistakes, you just want to forget about it like a goldfish with short term memory and just make it up on defense.”
The Golden Eagles are now 15-2 on the season while going 8-0 in the Empire 8 matchups to stay first in the division. Their next matchup is on the road against SUNY Geneseo on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 5:30 p.m.
Comentarios