The Geneseo women’s basketball team bounced back from a loss against SUNY Oswego and returned home to defeat SUNY Brockport 70-42 on Saturday Feb. 2.
Unlike their past three games, the Knights started the half strong with a 37-20 performance. Head coach Scott Hemer said that the change was due to “learning from past mistakes.”
Freshman forward Allison McKenna recorded a career-high 30 points in the game while also grabbing 12 rebounds.
“[McKenna’s] a dominating presence when she plays aggressively,” Hemer said.
He noted that McKenna didn’t do it by herself, though.
“[McKenna’s] breakout game was also part of our team making a commitment to put us in a position that we can be successful,” Hemer said. “We felt and stressed with them going into the game that we felt our biggest advantage was getting the ball to our post players.”
And that is exactly what they did as shown by senior guard Melissa Graham’s career-high eight assists. Even though she was 1-6 throughout the game, Hemer said that it was one of her “better all-around games.”
“You saw a maturity level in her, of finding a way to help our team win,” Hemer said.
“Obviously when the shots aren’t falling, it’s very easy for players, especially younger players to shut down,” Hemer continued. “I thought that [Graham] saw what we had going for us and realized that the game plan of getting the ball inside was critical to our success and she committed to that.”
Geneseo was able to close the game out with a 33-22 score in the second half.
The young Knights team is now 15-5. Hemer said he has seen the team mature throughout the season.
“I think the biggest thing they have done in terms of maturing is truly buying into what will ultimately make them successful,” Hemer said. “They are all finding ways to contribute each and every night even though it’s not always the same player.”
Another key player was freshman Paige Hill, who snagged a career-high 10 rebounds. Due to sophomore guard Biz Reinhardt’s injury, Hill has been stepping up in the guard position.
“[Hill] has not only done a tremendous job of stepping up to cover for [Reinhardt] but really stepping up her overall performance in general,” Hemer said.
The Knights will travel north to play SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Plattsburgh on Feb. 8 and 9, respectively. Hemer said that in order for the Knights to win, “We have to play fast, we have to control the boards and we have to place value on the ball.”