The Geneseo women's basketball team did their best "Jekyll and Hyde" impression this past week, putting together two contrasting performances against conference foes SUNY Brockport and SUNY Fredonia.
The more uninspiring of the two games came on Friday night as Geneseo played 40 minutes of surprisingly unmotivated basketball on their way to a 54-48 loss at the hands of the Golden Eagles.
"It was very tough and embarrassing," said junior Khadija Campbell, who contributed 17 points and eight boards in the loss. "That is not what we are about, we do not settle and that is exactly what we did on Friday. They came into our house and outplayed us."
The Knights looked flat right out of the gate, falling behind 11-2 early in the game. Despite rallying to take a 21-17 lead with 4 minutes, 37 seconds remaining in the first half, they gave up 12 unanswered points to end the half. Geneseo never recovered the lead and lost a game that they said they should've won.
"Friday night was very disappointing," said head coach Scott Hemer. "I think mentally we weren't there."
Adding to their disappointment is the fact that the Knights now no longer control their own destiny in hopes of securing a home playoff game.
Up until last week Geneseo was cruising, winning seven of nine games, but tough losses to SUNY New Paltz and SUNY Oneonta, combined with Friday's lackluster performance against the Golden Eagles, have the Knights relying on other teams if they want to play at home in the playoffs.
"The frustrating thing is we understood that [we controlled our own destiny] and yet chose not to bring our 'A' game," Hemer said. "I just don't think we showed up to play."
The Knights, however, did more than show up on Tuesday night against Fredonia. They looked like a completely different team as they piled on 74 points - 43 in the second half alone - on their way to a 74-55 rout of the Blue Devils.
Campbell led the scoring barrage with 17 points, while sophomores Bri Dunton and Katelyn Charbonneau added 15 and 12 points, respectively. Dunton was a perfect 8-8 from the line and Charbonneau shot a clutch 4-7 from behind the arc with a team-high eight rebounds.
"We were all disappointed Friday," Hemer said. "I think they knew they didn't come to play and I think what you saw [Tuesday] was that they made a commitment to doing things the way we're trying to get this program to do them - I think they're excited about that."
In spite of their dominating performance, the Knights know they're not in a position to rest on their laurels. "This game means nothing moving forward if we don't build off of it," Hemer said.
The Knights improved to 13-10 on the season and 9-7 in SUNYAC conference play. They close out their season this weekend on the road at SUNY Plattsburgh and SUNY Potsdam.