Cortland Defeats Canton, 67-54, to Advance to SUNYAC Women's Basketball Championship Game
CORTLAND, N.Y. – Jackie Funk (Penfield) made 5-of-6 3-pointers and scored a career-high 22 points as top-seeded Cortland defeated fourth-seeded Canton, 67-54, in the SUNYAC women's basketball tournament semifinals at Corey Gymnasium.
Cortland (23-3) will host second-seeded New Paltz in the championship game Saturday at 4 p.m., with the winner earning an NCAA Division III tournament automatic bid. New Paltz defeated third-seeded Oswego, 66-58, in Friday's second semifinal game. Cortland and New Paltz will be meeting in the title game for the fourth time in the last five tournaments; Cortland won 57-52 at New Paltz in 2023 and New Paltz won 66-63 at Cortland in 2022 and 63-53 at New Paltz in 2020 (there was no tournament in 2021).
Funk finished 7-of-11 from the field overall and 3-of-4 from the foul line in her 22-point effort. She scored 11 points in each half. Funk also grabbed four rebounds. Kayla Campbell (Franklin/Franklin Central) scored 12 points and led the Red Dragons with five assists.
Brooke Tillotson (Marathon) finished with eight points, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists. Joleen Lusk (Cherry Valley/Cherry Valley-Springfield) ended with six points, nine rebounds and three blocks, Kaeli McAnally (Islip) totaled nine points, four rebounds and three assists and Sophie Bissaillon (East Greenbush/Columbia) made all three of her shots, two from 3-point range, and finished with eight points.
Kat McRobbie-Taru led Canton (16-11) with 18 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Natalie Bartle scored 15 points and added five rebounds and four steals, Sierra Pabo scored 11 points and led the Roos with three assists, and Hope Aniceto scored 10 points.
Cortland finished the first quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 20-12 lead, and the Red Dragons built their lead to as high as 15 points in the second quarter before going into the locker room up 33-19.
Canton, however, began the third quarter on an 18-8 streak and was within 41-37 after an Aniceto 3-pointer with 3:54 left in the period. Bissaillon answered with a trey 16 seconds later to push the lead to seven, and Cortland took a 48-39 lead into the final 10 minutes.
Canton was within seven, 53-46, with the ball at the 6:18 mark of the fourth. The Roos, however, missed a jumper and Tillotson hit a 3-pointer with 5:57 left to give the Red Dragons a 56-46 lead. Funk's 3-pointer with 3:47 left made it 59-48 and the lead remained in double figures after that.
Team Stats
| Game Statistics | Canton | Cortland |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (24-56) | (22-53) |
| Field Goal % | 42.9% | 41.5% |
| Rebounds | 26 | 36 |
| Assists | 9 | 17 |
| Turnovers | 13 | 13 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 10 | 13 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 6 | 13 |
| Pts in the Paint | 28 | 20 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 4 | 4 |
| Bench Pts | 0 | 10 |
