The Cayuga Community College Women's Basketball Team, led by Coach Jim Alberici, defeated Clinton Community College before falling to Davis College in action earlier in December.
The Cayuga Community College Women's Basketball Team, led by Coach Jim Alberici, defeated Clinton Community College before falling to Davis College in action earlier in December.

Cayuga Women’s Basketball Beats Clinton, Falls to Davis

The Cayuga Community College Women's Basketball Team defeated the Clinton Community College Cougars before falling to the Davis College Falcons in contests earlier in December. 

The Spartans kicked off December with a 76-49 win over the Cougars before dropping their next game 91-58 to the sharp-shooting Falcons. The Spartans' record sits at 4-3 with one contest remaining in December.

The contest against Clinton on Dec. 1 was the Spartans' first game in three weeks, and Coach Jim Alberici noted the team started a bit slow before kicking into a higher gear.

"We were a little rusty out of the gate, but once we shook that off we played a really good game. We got out and ran and were able to beat them down the floor. We had great balance, with eight players scoring, and we had 20 assists. That's a great sign that the team is playing together and moving the ball well," he said.

The Spartans started out down 12-8, but quickly took control. They closed the first quarter with a five point lead, and built that margin to 12 by halftime with a 35-23 advantage. The Spartans ended up winning each quarter en route to the 27-point victory.

"I was really excited by our performance against Clinton. After three weeks without a game, it can be tough to get back into the groove, but we played really well," said Alberici.

Erica Helzer and Tiara Young paced the Spartans with 17 and 16 points, respectively, while Payton Noeller added 13 points to go with her 9 rebounds. Loren Clifford and Hanna Keyser helped the Spartans dominate the boards with 13 and 11 rebounds, respectively.

Against Davis, the Spartans played a strong first half but couldn't keep pace with Davis' 15 three-pointers. Alberici noted that the Spartans started out down 17-4, but fought back to make the game close at the halfway point.

"We played great for the first two quarters. They made eight three-pointers but we were still only down 41-36 after the second quarter," he said. "They made six more threes in the third quarter, and we weren't able to keep up."

Alberici said the game had plenty of positives for the team to build on as the Spartans prepare for conference play in January.

"Davis is a four-year school, and we played right with them in the first half. Our play in the first two quarters was some of the strongest I've seen from our team all season. We just couldn't get shots to fall in the third and fourth quarters," he said. "There's plenty to build on moving forward."

Keysor and Clifford scored 12 and 10 points, respectively, to lead the Spartans, with Noeller adding 9 points and Breayle Williams tallying 8 points.

The Spartans close out the month with a game at Herkimer on Dec. 10. Cayuga defeated Herkimer 54-51 in November.