Offense was at a premium, but Brockport found a way to edge out Oswego State 53-49 in overtime. The Golden Eagles saw themselves trailing by as many as 10 in the fourth quarter, but Anna Lee sparked the comeback efforts late.
“I knew the ball wasn’t going in for my jump shot. So, the only thing I could do was get in the paint. My mentality was ‘we’re not losing this game, let’s go we’re not losing this game,’” Lee said.
Lee would score the final seven points for Brockport to tie the game at 41 and send it to the extra session. In overtime, the Golden Eagles would jump out in front, scoring the first six points. Oswego’s Chastin Giles drilled a corner three to cut the deficit back to three. Shannon Blankenship responded with a triple to ultimately put the game out of reach and clinch the victory for the Golden Eagles. Brockport Head Coach Corinne Jones knew she needed to ride Lee’s hot hand late in the game.
“I said to her at one point ‘Anna Lee just pretend like no one is here, like you’re in the gym alone,’” Jones said. “It was just going her way, so we kept going to her. We were trying to find someone, and I think she was the one we had to go to in the end.”
The Golden Eagles found themselves shorthanded as leading scorer Stephanie Jean-Baptiste and fourth leading scorer Juan Brown were both out. Playing without two of their top offensive threats the struggles were noticeable at times. Brockport shot just 26% from the field and 10% from three. Jones thought it was a tough adjustment for her team.
“It’s tough when you have a couple people on the bench that have done some scoring for you and then all of the sudden at the end of the year, we have to figure something out,” Jones said. “I just kept throwing things at our squad and really trying to go inside to Zairea (Hannah) and then Anna Lee just really showed up at the end.”
Lee would finish with a game-high 16 points. Hannah would post a double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds. Anna Felice made timely free throws late and finished with 11 points.
Brockport moved to 11-13 overall and 8-9 in conference play. A Potsdam loss to Oneonta moves the Golden Eagles back into fifth place in the SUNYAC standings heading into the final day of the regular season. Lee hopes her team can tighten things up in their regular season finale.
“I think our team just wants to reflect on this game and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Lee said. We’ll go out tomorrow and put the shots and hopefully they’ll fall better than they did tonight.”
Brockport will host Buffalo State on Senior Day to cap off their season. A win will clinch the fifth seed for the Golden Eagles heading into their first round SUNYAC playoff matchup on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
