Senior guard Sara Ciotti (pictured above) brings the ball up the court while surveying the defense in a game against Potsdam on Saturday Feb. 1. Ciotti scored 21 points in the Knights’ Feb. 15 victory over Brockport (courtesy of Keith Walters).
On Feb. 15, the Geneseo women’s basketball squad faced off against SUNY Brockport in athrilling matchup ending in a 71-59 Geneseo victory. This was one of their best wins of the season,especially since Brockport beat them in an earlier matchup.
In January, Brockport defeated Geneseo 63-56 due in large part to their stellar defense. None ofthe Knights’ starters got into double figures in points and were held to 21.9 percent shooting from behindthe arc. Furthermore, Brockport caught fire from the field and shot 9-20 (45 percent) on three-pointers.One upside, however, was that the team played great interior defense against Brockport’s guards, notallowing them to enter the paint.
The Knights certainly learned from this experience and improved ball movement as well asspacing, which led to one of their greatest offensive games of the season. They exploded right out of thegate with eight unanswered points and totaled 30 points by the end of the first quarter—a season-high. Not only were they scoring with quickness, but also with great efficiency as the Knights shot 64.3 percent from the field in the first half, another season-high.
Senior guard Sara Ciotti had a particularly impressive performance, leading both teams in scoring 21 points with pinpoint accuracy, shooting 67 percent from the field and sinking both of her three-point attempts. This was in stark contrast to the previous game against Brockport in which she was held to seven points on a mere 10 percent shooting.
No one should have doubted that Ciotti would bounce back stronger than ever; she has had a tremendous overall season averaging 11.3 points-per-game while shooting over 40 percent from three-point range. According to Ciotti, the team’s success, along with her own personal achievements, are owed to stellar coaching and practice.
“We watch a lot of film either the day prior or the day of the game to further prepare,” Ciotti said. Additionally, the Knights are focusing on limiting “silly turnovers.” Turnovers negatively impact both the offense and defense and were one of the few negatives of Saturday’s game. Overall, the team racked up a total of 13 turnovers. Not only does the offense lose a valuable possession, but the opposition can score easy fast-break points while Geneseo’s defense isn’t set.
A strong defense is an important part of the Knights’ identity and, according to Ciotti, it has been a major focus: “We prepare for games by making sure our plays and defensive principles are sound, and that everyone is on the same page.”
This defensive mindset was clear early on against Brockport. In the first quarter, Brockport only scored nine points on 21 percent shooting from the field. Junior forward Kerrin Montgomery had a standout defensive performance, with two blocks and numerous great shot contests. She uses her height and agility to make the opposing offensive players feel uncomfortable.
While Geneseo’s inside defense was stellar, work still needs to be done on defending three-pointers. In this new analytics-focused era, tremendous spacing and guarding the three-point line is a necessity. Brockport shot 54 percent from beyond the arc for the game, including guard Bailey Pratt who shot 6-13 from three whilst racking up 18 points.
Overall, this was a tremendous performance by Geneseo, and it displayed how deadly the team can be with its plethora of offensive weapons. Ciotti believes that anything is possible for their squad and that the ultimate goal is to be “cutting down the nets” at the end of the season, but nevertheless they have to go “one game at a time.”
Geneseo will be on the road, facing off against SUNY Oswego on Friday Feb. 21. Fans can expect an exciting, high-scoring affair as Geneseo’s offense attempts to replicate their dominant performance.