Morrisville, N.Y.: The SUNY Cobleskill women's basketball team returned to the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Women's Championship Tournament for the first time since 2012 as the number three seeded Fighting Tigers battled until the final buzzer in a hard fought 79-78 loss to the number two seeded host Mustangs of Morrisville State on Tuesday evening.  With the loss the Fighting Tigers close their season at 12-14 overall while the Mustangs are now 18-8 overall on the season.   

The Fighting Tigers trailed at the end of the first quarter 24-20 with junior guard Nylasia Sutton, Queens, N.Y., Lansingburgh High School/Herkimer Community College, scoring 17 points in the stanza including a buzzer beating 22-footer to close the quarter. Both teams showed a willingness to attack via the three-pointer with the Mustangs converting on 7-of-13, 65.0%, and Cobleskill going 4-for-10, 40.0%, from deep range.

In the second quarter the visitors started to assert themselves inside as the Fighting Tigers began to control the offensive and defensive glass leading to inside scoring which eventually cut the Mustang lead to 36-34 with 3:02 remaining in the half as freshman center Sierra, Ballston Spa, N.Y., Ballston Spa High School, scored inside to give her eight points and five rebounds in the half.

However Morrisville State responded by outscoring the Fighting Tigers 9-to-4 down the stretch to take a 45-38 advantage into halftime despite being outscored in the paint 22-10 and being outrebounded 29-15 in the half.

The third quarter saw the host Mustangs race out to a 66-53 lead as Morrisville State used a balanced inside/outside attack to take advantage of the Cobleskill defense.
However in the fourth period the Fighting Tigers came out on fire going on a 13-to-3 run that made it 69-66 when senior center Gabby Muracezewski, Hamilton Square, N.J, Southern Regional High School, scored a lay-up off a loose ball with 4:48 left in regulation. Cobleskill later cut the lead to 71-69 when sophomore guard TyLysa Martinez, Coram, N.Y., Longwood High School, nailed a three-pointer with 4:06 left to play.

After the teams traded baskets and missed possessions Martinez cut the lead to 75-74 when she split a pair of free throws with 1:17 left in the quarter. Morrisville subsequently converted on a two pairs of free throws making it 79-74 with Cobleskill responding with a lay-up from freshman forward Anna Post, Bovina Center, N.Y., Delaware Academy, to make it 79-76 with only 32 seconds left to play.

Forced to foul the Fighting Tigers did so with 16 seconds remaining putting the Mustangs on the line with the game in the balance. After a pair of missed free throws Cobleskill secured the rebound and called timeout to set up one last potential game tying play.

With three seconds left Nylasia Sutton let fly a heavily defended three-point shot that Gabby Muraczewski rebounded and scored off of making it 79-78 with one second left. A quick Morrisville inbound then led to time expiring and the Mustangs advancing to the league semi-finals on Friday February 28^th at SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Marcy, N.Y where they will meet Lancaster Bible College at 4:00 p.m.  

The Fighting Tigers were led by the double barreled attack of Nylasia Sutton who scored 29 points to go with nine rebounds and five assists and Anna Post who tallied an impressive 23 points, 21 rebounds and five assists on the evening. Gabby Muraczewski was also factor in the game with eight points, 13 rebounds and two assists on the night for the visitors.