Brockport women’s basketball was named Empire 8 regular season champions after their 75-62 win over SUNY Geneseo on Tuesday. The two conference heavyweights played a close game, good for 12 lead changes. However, a fourth-quarter surge saw Brockport take control on Play4Kay night, a game to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research.
“We responded to their runs,” Brockport senior guard Cameron Tooley said. “We just kept playing the way we play.”
Tooley played a team-high 31 minutes and added 15 points, seven assists and nine rebounds.
Senior guard Shannon Blankenship added back-to-back triples in the first quarter, giving Brockport an early 9-4 lead. Another three by sophomore guard Mandy Brink would help Brockport start hot, going 4-6 from deep in the first. After a quarter of action, Brockport clung on to an 18-17 lead.
“She’s [Blankenship] put in the time,” Brockport head coach Corrine Jones said. “She’s been loyal…I’m super happy for her that she’s able to put it in the court and do the X and O part of it.”
Geneseo dominated the glass all night and it continued in the second quarter thanks to sophomore forward Audrey Hintz. The Rochester native tallied eight points and six rebounds in the second quarter alone. Hintz, one of three Knights over six feet tall, helped Geneseo outrebound Brockport 22-15 in the first half.
Trying to combat the Knights’ size were Brockport’s Kaileigh Hunt and Tooley. Combining for 15 of Brockport’s 38 rebounds, Hunt and Tooley stood their ground in the paint, taking a charge apiece.
Geneseo’s Mackenzie Reigle opened opportunities for the Knights’ offense; the single-season assists record holder was a maestro for the Knights, adding three assists in the first half. To her aid was backup junior point guard Maggie McGrane, tallying four first half assists as well. Geneseo as a team had six second quarter assists which helped them secure a 38-35 lead at half.
In their last game against Houghton, Brockport had only eight bench points. In this matchup, the Golden Eagles found their bench spark from the sophomore Brink.
Brink’s second and third three of the game came in the third quarter. Her triples were part of a nine-point quarter for Brink, going perfect from the field during that stretch. She ended with a team-high 16 points, tying her career-high as a Golden Eagle.
“I wasn’t thinking, I was just shooting,” Brink said. “I got shots to go in.”
Brockport stayed hot on both sides of the ball. Freshman Peyton Maneri led the way defensively at the top of Brockport’s patented zone pressure. The Auburn, NY native helped create four steals and 11 fastbreak points in the third quarter alone, leading to a 57-53 Brockport lead. Maneri tallied career highs in steals with seven and blocks with two.
“She’s a winner, she’s going to do what it takes,” Jones said. “I think she has winning behaviors, and she has great leaders to follow too.”
Maneri’s efforts guided Brockport to 11 steals as a team and 14 points off turnovers.
After regaining the lead after the third quarter, Brockport never looked back. An 18-3 run to start the fourth quarter helped the Golden Eagles maintain the lead for all ten minutes of the quarter. Senior guard Harmony Philo’s three off a Tooley assist was the dagger for Brockport. It was one of Tooley’s seven assists on the night, a game-high.
“Just pushing the ball,” Tooley said. “We just trust what’s the best play for our team, we try to get the ball to whoever’s open and make a play from there.”
Brockport stayed strong the rest of the game to grab a convincing 75-62 win in which all 14 Golden Eagles saw action.
Brockport’s home win to cap off the season led them to a 10-1 record at the Jim and John Vlogianitis Arena this season to go along with a 22-3 overall record.
Despite the feats, Jones knows her team still isn’t satisfied.
“I looked at them today and was like, are y’all happy?” Jones said. “They want more. They expect greatness, and that’s awesome because I don’t have to drive that. They drive it themselves.”
Brockport will play Elmira on Saturday at home in the first round of the Empire 8 conference tournament. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
