COBLESKILL WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CRUSHES DELHI TECH 63-38
Using tenacious defense, a lightening fastbreak and superior ball movement the SUNY Cobleskill women’s basketball team delighted the home crowd by crushing long-time rival Delhi Tech by a 63-38 margin in Mountain Valley Conference action at the Iorio Gymnasium last night. The Fighting Tigers improve their overall record to 14-5 on the season with a 7-2 record in conference play. Cobleskill is currently eighteenth in the recent NJCAA Division III National Poll.
After a slow start the Fighting Tigers went on a 14 point run that eventually put them up by a score of 36-22 at the half. In the second half the Cobleskill defense smothered the Bronco offense allowing only 16 points to the visitors, forcing five shot clock violations during the stanza.
Senior guard Erinn O’Rourke, South Glens Falls, NY, South Glens Falls High School, found her shooting touch contributing a team leading 15 points to go with five assists, three rebounds and two steals while senior center Kim McMillen, Greenville, NY, Greenville High School, pounded the Bronco interior defense with 12 points and 11 rebounds on the evening.
Cobleskill also received strong contributions from senior Andrea Piedigrossi, Cortland, NY, Cortland High School, who scored eight points and grabbed three rebounds and from senior point guard Meghan Smida, Cobleskill, NY, Cobleskill-Richmondville High School, who scored nine points, four assists, three rebounds, three blocked shots. Freshman center/forward April Ackermann, South Huntington, NY, Sullivan West High School, chipped in eight points, grabbed 10 rebound and passed out five assists and senior forward Kim Stahl, Scotia, NY, Scotia-Glenville High School, added seven points and two rebounds for the Black & Orange.
“We used ouo defense to speed up the game because we knew that they were going to play a lot of zone and try to slow the game down offensively. I thought that we did a great job of exerting ball pressure and getting out in the passing lanes so that even when we didn’t get a steal we were able to rush them,” said Fighting Tiger Head Coach Josh Suttles. “Meghan Smida put on a clinic on how to apply defensive pressure tonight. She was all over the floor. Offensively, Erinn O’Rourke’s outside shooting was the key and down the stretch heading towards the tournament her ability to shoot the ball could give us a number of different options.”
Cobleskill will take to the road on Thursday February 1st when they travel to Schenectady, NY to meet the Royals of Schenectady Community College at the Schenectady Armory beginning at 5:00 PM.
