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SUNY Potsdam women's basketball nets victory 74-62 against Canton

Posted 2/16/17

Updated 4:22 p.m. Feb. 16 POTSDAM -- Strong scoring lifted the SUNY Potsdam women's basketball team (3-19) over SUNY Canton (5-18) with a score of 74-62 Wednesday night in the Bears' final home …

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SUNY Potsdam women's basketball nets victory 74-62 against Canton

Posted

Updated 4:22 p.m. Feb. 16

POTSDAM -- Strong scoring lifted the SUNY Potsdam women's basketball team (3-19) over SUNY Canton (5-18) with a score of 74-62 Wednesday night in the Bears' final home contest of the season. Freshman guard Drew Dufrane (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) led Potsdam with a career-high 24 points, while shooting .500 from the floor and .600 from behind the arch. Sophomore guard Abbey Smith (Bainbridge, N.Y./Bainbridge-Guilford) fell short of a double-double with 14 points and a game-high nine boards.

Potsdam's offense came out of the gate on fire by throwing up a 21-point quarter to Canton's nine. Dufrane hit from behind the arch three times during the 10 minute span and senior captain Patti Dorgler (Floral Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) chipped a three in herself. Senior captain Meghan Driscoll (Troy, N.Y./Troy) added two buckets, while freshman forward Kim Pike (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H.Calhoun) and Smith combined for five points. Junior guard Randi Conway (Mount Upton, N.Y./Broome C.C.) got the Roos on the board at 7:42 by knocking down two free throws. Junior captain Taylor Saltus (Clintonville, N.Y./Ausable Valley) led the Roos with three points that also came from the foul line.

The Bears stayed hot heading into the second with 23 points to top their scoring from the first quarter. Saltus drilled a three to start the scoring for both team, but Dufrane countered with a 3-pointer to keep the Bears' lead at double-digits. The teams went basket-for-basket with Potsdam holding the 23-16 advantage during the 10 minutes to send the Bears into the locker room with the 44-25 lead. Dufrane led Potsdam with eight points and Smith was right behind her with seven. Saltus had six for the Roos and Jenifer Morgan-Aubin (Hartford, N.Y./Hartford) kicked in two baskets.

Smith and Dufrane hit back-to-back threes to get Potsdam out to their largest lead of the game of 25. Following Dufrane's three, Canton's offense ignited for a 22-12 run to close out the third and get the Bears' lead down to 15. Saltus had her biggest scoring impact of the game in the quarter with nine points, while Morgan-Aubin tallied six points. Driscoll finished with six points for the Bears and Dufrane added five.

Scoring slowed on both sides of the ball in the final quarter with Canton holding the slight 13-10 advantage, but it wasn't enough to gain any ground on Potsdam. The Bears took the 74-62 victory. Junior forward Emily Drake (Athens, N.Y./Coxsackie-Athens) led Potsdam with five points and Dufrane, Driscoll, and Smith combined for the other five. Saltus and sophomore guard Paige Whitton (Hermon, N.Y./Hermon-Dekalb) scored all of Canton's 13 points with Whitton having eight.

Driscoll finished with 11 points and eight assists, while Drake tacked on nine points and nine rebounds. Pike tied her career-high with six points and had a career-high eight boards. Dorgler finished with a career-high six steals, five rebounds, three assists and four points.

Saltus recorded 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Whitton finished with 13 points, five boards, six steals, while Morgan-Aubin added 12 points and six rebounds. Conway had a team-high eight boards.

The Bears are back in action this weekend when they travel to SUNY Oneonta to battle the Red Dragons at 7:30 p.m. Potsdam will close out their season Saturday against SUNY New Paltz at 4 p.m.