Facing SUNYAC'S toughest defensive team in the Red Dragons of SUNY Oneonta, the SUNY Potsdam women's basketball team had their work cut out for them.

The Red Dragons entered allowing only 54.2 points per game, but in a first half dominated by the Bears' defense, it seemed to be Potsdam who had the upper hand in that department.

Potsdam frustrated Oneonta with active hands and alert play to help create 14 first-half turnovers and held the Red Dragons to just 28 percent shooting from the field. On the other end of the court, the Bears shot 56 percent behind the hot shooting of senior forward Jessica Kouzan (Webster, N.Y. / Webster- Schroeder) who nailed 7-of-11 shots for 17 points.

Everything was going in favor of Potsdam and it held a 37-20 halftime advantage, but the game proved to be a tale of two halves as Oneonta came out with a pesky press defense and rallied for a 70-64 SUNYAC victory on Saturday afternoon at Jerry Welsh Gymnasium.

Oneonta (14-5 overall, 8-4 SUNAYC) sported one of the conference's sharpest shooters in Alyshia Crawford, a senior guard who came in averaging 16.8 points per contest.

The Bears held her in check early as Crawford was quiet with only three points in the first half, but quickly asserted herself to finish with 15 points.

Just as much as Potsdam (4-14 overall, 2-9 SUNYAC) were the aggressors in the first half with runs of 11-0 and a 16-2 to close out the half, Oneonta controlled the second half with an 18-0 run that saw the Bears go nearly eight minutes without a basket.

Oneonta reclaimed the lead for the first time in the second half at 42-41 on a free throw by Kelly Mulligan with 8:38 remaining. Potsdam answered with a lay up and a 3-pointer by junior guard Carli Reynolds (Indian Lake, N.Y. / Indian Lake). But Oneonta's 6-foot-3 center Sarah Longto bulled her way for a 3-point play down low and Crawford sank a pair of free throws to give Oneonta the lead back.

The Bears last led 49-47 when Kouzan knocked down a 3-pointer with 5:40 left. Mulligan tied it with a lay up and then sophomore guard/forward Lyteshia Price buried a jumper to put Oneonta up 51-49 with 5:04 left.

Oneonta was just 2-of-2 from the free throw line in the opening half, but made a noticeably stark adjustment in the second half by shooting 20-of-27 from the line after halftime. The Red Dragons also shot 14-of-28 from the field during the second half.

Senior guard Grace Schilling shot 6-of-10 from the field and 7-of-10 from the line to close with a team-high 19 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals. Longto had 11 points and Price finished with eight points.

For the Bears, Kouzan ended up 9-of-16 from floor including 5-of-10 from downtown for a game-high 23 points and four rebounds.

Reynolds had a career day, pouring in a career-high 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting (2-of-5 from 3-point range and 6-of-6 from the line) to go along with another career-best five assists. She also had three rebounds and a steal in 27 minutes of action.

Junior Bailey Weigel had 12 points, five rebounds and one block. Senior guard Chenice Russell (Moira, N.Y. / Brushton-Moira) had seven points and two steals.

Potsdam will hit the road next for games at SUNY Geneseo and at Brockport on Friday and Saturday. Tip offs are scheduled for 6 p.m. and 2 p.m.