The Geneseo women’s basketball team earned the third overall seed in their conference this season with a 22-4 record. Due to their success this season, the Knights hosted the first round of the SUNYAC Tournament on Tuesday Feb. 25 against SUNY Brockport.
Getting a home game to begin the SUNYAC Tournament is an impressive achievement; however, first-year guard Taylor Hansen revealed she and her teammates are not stopping there. “Making the SUNYAC playoffs is just the beginning of our goal,” Hansen said before the game. “We’re hoping to kickstart our journey to cutting down the nets … by beating Brockport.”
After a closely contested first quarter, Hansen and the Knights ripped off an 18-3 run to open the second period of play. Senior guard Sara Ciotti put the finishing touch on a sparkling 35-15 first half lead by nailing a step-back buzzer-beating three-pointer.
Hansen added four points, two rebounds and one steal in the first half. She scored 84 total points in her first season of college basketball and credits her teammates for that success.
“On the court [my teammates] push us to be better every day while also being understanding and helpful when things get tough,” Hansen said. “Off the court, all of my teammates are truly incredible people that could not be any more supportive.”
That support on and off the court culminated in a 66-52 victory over the visiting Golden Eagles. In the second half, Geneseo built a 27-point lead. While Brockport cut into the Knight’s dominating lead before the end of the game, Geneseo’s talent and chemistry were too much to overcome.
Junior guard Lindsay Halpin led all scorers with 21 points thanks to 7-9 (78 percent) shooting from the floor and a perfect 4-4 evening from the free throw line. Ciotti added 14 points and handed out five assists and snatched four steals.
Geneseo’s victory earned them the right to play SUNY Cortland on Friday Feb. 28 at 5:30 p.m. in the SUNYAC semifinals. If they win, they will move on to the championship round the next night. The rest of the tournament will be played at SUNY New Paltz, as the Hawks own the top seed in the tournament.
Earlier in the season, Geneseo lost in overtime to Cortland 67-64 on Dec. 6. Due to team improvements, the Knights were able to defeat the Red Dragons 71-51 on Saturday Feb. 22.
The Knights are clicking at the right time heading into their road playoff matchup Cortland, as they have now won six straight games.
Halpin scored 34 total points in the two games against Cortland this season and is coming off a great performance versus Brockport. She will look to lead the Knights, not only past Cortland but past whoever they face in the SUNYAC Championship—where they fell short a season ago.
However, the Knights will have to rely on more than just Halpin’s sharpshooting to hoist the SUNYAC trophy for the first time since the 2014-15 season. To complete their “journey to cutting down the nets,” they must draw on the team chemistry they have built, just like Hansen said.