The Oswego State women’s basketball team lost 63-62 to the Clarkson Knights Tuesday on a pair of free throws by Carey Turner with time expired. The loss came despite a 26-point performance from the Laker bench.
With five seconds to play, Turner grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled as time expired. Turner was sent to the line with the clock read 00:00.
"I don’t know how you call that foul," Oswego State guard Wanda Sanchez said.
Sanchez contributed nine points and four steals in 17 minutes off the bench for the Lakers who now drop to 1-4 entering conference play.
Oswego State is still looking for that consistent second option to complement the consistent Ryan.
"I think everybody has the chance to be the second option to Kayla Ryan," Sanchez said.
So far this season, Sanchez’s words have held true. Through the first five games of the season, Ryan has led or co-led the team in each game while the team’s second-leading scorer has been different each time.
Ryan went six of 20 from the floor and made six of her seven free throws. She finished the night with a total of 18 points to go along with her nine rebounds.
After having built a 12-point lead in the first half the Lakers faded down the stretch, battling back and forth over the last few minutes.
"We need to come strong and play 40 minutes of constant offense and defense," Sanchez said. "In the second half everything just died down. The intensity died down, we didn’t run the plays; everybody was just standing around."
Sanchez, a senior from Louis Brandeis High School, has seen her role increase dramatically this year thanks to some good advice from head coach Tracy Bruno and some hard work in the off season.
"She told me to play my game and bring that into teamwork," Sanchez said.
Like her male counterpart Adam Stockwell, Bruno is a defensive-minded coach.
"Defense is what coach [Bruno] emphasizes the most, so I have been trying to bring defensive intensity and just help the team in that way," Sanchez said.
The game was tough for Sanchez and the Lakers to swallow as they head into their first conference game of the season this Friday, Dec. 4, when they host the conference champion Brockport Golden Eagles.
"If you blow a lead clearly and the other team clearly beats you, it’s better than losing that way," Sanchez said.
Oswego State heads into Friday’s matchup with Brockport losing the last four matchups, including last year’s SUNYAC quarterfinals. The last time Oswego State beat Brockport was Feb. 9 of 2008, a 74-58 victory at Max Ziel Gymnasium.
