By: Dylan O’Loughlin
The Brockport Golden Eagles Women’s Basketball squad hosted the SUNY Geneseo Knights in a rematch of the 2025 Empire 8 Championship on We Back Pat Alzheimer’s Awareness night. The Golden Eagles defense shined again, as Brockport opened up as large as a 13-point lead and held off a Knights’ fourth quarter rally for a 72-64 victory.
“To be honest, we were waiting to play this game all summer, all fall, winter,” Brockport head coach Corinne Jones said. “To lose on your home court in a championship game doesn’t make you feel very good so we’ve been feeling it since then. You have two really good teams and I think in February there’s going to be runs and I thought we weathered the storm.”
Brockport owned a 50-43 lead heading into the fourth. But, the Knights opened up the quarter with a quick 6-0 run thanks to an Aliza Whitehead and-one conversion and a Grace Galgano three to cut the lead to one.
From there it was back-and-forth as both teams traded buckets until 2:38 seconds remaining after a Geneseo three-pointer from Maggie McGrane made the lead 61-60 Brockport.
That was the closest the game got the rest of the way. For Brockport, junior guard Brianna Carey scored seven straight points to extend the lead to eight, a deficit the Knights did not overcome. The transfer from DII Caldwell got her first taste of the Brockport-Geneseo rivalry today, and did everything she had to do.
“My teammates got me those shots, and we’ve been thinking about this game for a long time,” Carey said. “Even though I’ve never played Geneseo before, I knew the significance and the meaning behind it and it’s something that we’ve been working really hard for. It was good to be able to step up and get those shots in those spots.”
Geneseo did not go away though, as junior forward Audrey Hintz knocked down a quick deuce to cut the lead back to seven with 30 seconds remaining. But, it was junior guard Mandy Brink who got the ball in her hands at the charity-stripe, knocking down three free-throws to ice the game. Brink ended the day with a game-high 21 points.
The game was like a storybook for the junior. Last year down three in the Empire 8 Championship, Brink had a chance to tie it at the line, but went two-for-three which ultimately resulted in a Brockport loss. Today with the same opportunity, it was redemption.
“I’m so excited,” Brink said. “We played them at home last year and lost in the championship and then we were able to play them home for the first game after to give us another chance. We killed it and I’m just really proud of our team.”
In the first half, Brockport’s defense ran the game. Geneseo came into the matchup averaging just 14 turnovers a game, the lowest in the Empire 8. In the opening 20 minutes of play, Brockport caused 11 turnovers and garnered nine steals for 23 points off of them en route to a 35-24 halftime lead.
Geneseo did not get another lead until 6:55 to go in the fourth quarter, but Brockport responded and held off the Knights late rally for the victory.
On the day, Geneseo finished with 17 turnovers while Brockport ended with 10 steals. The Golden Eagles continue its dominance on the defensive side as the Empire 8 steal leaders only increased their total today.
“I mean that’s just what we do right,” Jones said. “We press, we’re aggressive, we turn people over and that’s what we’re trying to do to a team that quite frankly, wants to exist in the halfcourt. We said, ‘No not today,’ we’re going to play full court.”
For Brockport, Brink stuffed the stat sheet with 21 points, six rebounds, five assists and a steal while Carey netted 17 points. Senior guard Stephanie Jean-Baptiste finished with 14 points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal while sophomore guard Peyton Maneri added 10 points, six assists, three rebounds and a steal. Sophomore forward Claire Turner chipped in a game-high 11 rebounds and five steals along with four points.
For the Knights, Galgano led the way with a 17-point, 11-rebound double-double while Whitehead was just shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Hintz notched 14 points, eight boards and two steals while senior guard Eva Elliot posted 10 points, seven assists and four rebounds. Junior forward Kristin Suydam notched six points and seven rebounds.
With the win, Brockport extends its win streak to eight with Nazareth next up. In conference play, the Golden Eagles only loss this season came to the Golden Flyers at home 75-65.
“The mentality is to enjoy this win, we have the night to enjoy it and then back to practice tomorrow,” Jones said. “We’re worried about us and when Friday comes we’ll be ready at 5:30.”
Brockport improves 14-6 on the season and 10-1 in conference play for the second seed in the Empire 8 while Geneseo falls to 14-6 and 8-3 in Empire 8 play which keeps the Knights third in the conference.
Next up for the Golden Eagles, on the road at Nazareth this Friday Feb. 6th with tip-off scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
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