Although the playoffs are well within the Geneseo women’s basketball team’s reach, the Knights need to stay focused on the five games remaining in the regular season.
In each of the next four games, Geneseo faces a playoff hopeful team. Its schedule is the following: away against SUNY Fredonia, Buffalo State College and SUNY Cortland, then home against SUNY Oneonta and SUNY New Paltz.
The first and second-seeded teams in the SUNYAC receive a bye, while the third seed plays home against the sixth, and the fourth seed is home against the fifth. As it stands as of Thursday Feb. 13, Buffalo and Plattsburgh would receive a bye, Geneseo would be seeded fourth and play Fredonia in Schrader Gymnasium and Oneonta, at third, would play home against Fredonia.
Cortland, currently in seventh place, shares the same conference record as Fredonia, so much remains to be seen here.
Friday’s game against Fredonia would be a look at Geneseo’s first-round game, giving the coaching staff a good look at what’s potentially in store.
Head coach Scott Hemer said he thinks the freshmen have improved the deeper the team has gotten into the season.
“I don’t think we have to worry about any injuries or let-downs from them,” he said. “You’re going to have some people who are beat up, but you’re going to have that every season.”
The Knights won a critical game Tuesday Feb. 11 against SUNY Brockport, taking down the Golden Eagles 59-43. Center sophomore Allison McKenna scored 14 points while forward junior Shannon McGinnis scored 17.
At this point in the season, a bye may be out of the Knights’ reach, but that doesn’t seem to faze Hemer.
“A bye is certainly an advantage … but we haven’t necessarily played any better at home versus away this year,” he said. “For us, it’s not really much of a factor; we’re trying to focus on things that we can control.”
The Knights head to Fredonia on Friday Feb. 14 in pursuit of the playoffs. Hemer said that, at this point in the season, there isn’t anyone in the conference Geneseo couldn’t compete with.