FIGHTING TIGER WOMEN’S BASKETBALL CLOSES REGULAR SEASON WITH 55-54 ROAD VICTORY OVER DIVISION II DEAN JUNIOR COLLEGE

The SUNY Cobleskill women’s basketball team closed out the regular season in style on Saturday posting an upset 55-54 road victory over NJCAA Division II Dean Junior College in Franklin, MA avenging a 70-68 loss to the Bulldogs at the Cayuga Community College Tournament in Auburn, NY, on November 18th. The victory pushes the Fighting Tigers season overall record to 22-6 on the season marking the third consecutive season that they have won at least 22 games.

Senior center Kim McMillen, Greenville, NY, Greenville High School, led the way for the Cobleskill with a 15 point/nine rebound effort while freshman center/forward April Ackermann, South Huntington, NY, Sullivan West High School, added nine points, seven rebounds and three steals to help solidify the Orange & Black on the inside.

The Fighting Tiger perimeter players also showed their experience handling the Bulldogs multiple trapping and pressure defenses throughout the contest. Senior point guard Meghan Smida, Cobleskill, NY, Cobleskill-Richmondville High School, led the trio scoring 11 points, passing out five assists, grabbing three rebounds to go with a pair of steals while senior guard Erinn O’Rourke, South Glens Falls, NY, South Glens Falls High School, scored 10 points, took down four rebounds and passed out three assists in the contest. Senior forward Kim Stahl, Scotia, NY, Scotia-Glenville High School, also chipped in 10 points to go with three rebounds and three assists in the victory.

“I thought that this was a quality win versus a very good opponent on their home court and as we head into the regional tournament it shows that we can beat highly rated teams in big games,” said a jubilant Fighting Tiger Head Coach Josh Suttles. “I thought that Erinn O’Rourke did an exceptional job defensively against all of their guards and that we did a great job as a team of maintaining our composure against their defensive pressure late in the game. If we can keep that kind of defensive effort and focus; we should be in every game that we play this weekend and we should have just as good a chance of anyone to win the tournament.”

The Fighting Tigers have been seeded fourth for the 2007 NJCAA Region III Division III Championship Tournament hosted by Cayuga Community College in Auburn, NY, beginning with quarterfinal play Friday March 2nd thru the championship game on Sunday March 4th. 
Cobleskill will open play on Friday in the quarterfinals meeting the number five seeded Generals of Herkimer Community College (21-7) at 3:00 PM.

Further information can be obtained through the Cayuga Community College Athletic Department at (315) 255-1743 between the hours of 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM Monday through Friday.