CORTLAND, N.Y.—William Smith College junior Melanie Patterson scored a game-high 20 points, but host SUNY Cortland used a late rally to claim a 70-63 non-conference women's basketball victory tonight.
 
Patterson was 6-of-13 from the floor with a career-high four 3-pointers. She also made 4-of-5 at the free throw line. First-year Mia Morrison added 15 points, six rebounds, and team-highs of three assists and three steals. Junior Gabrielle Eure and first-year Olivia Hughes each contributed 10 points. Hughes also notched three steals. Junior Krista Anken grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
 
Cortland (2-1) put three players in double figures, led by junior Stephanie Rice's 17 points. Senior Caysea Cohen went 3-for-3 from behind the 3-point arc and finished with 16 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Junior Cassidy Chapko scored 10 points and handed out a game-high five assists.
 
A closely contested game, neither side led by more than the final seven point margin. William Smith (1-3) trailed by just one points after the first quarter, a mere three at the half, and faced just a two-point deficit entering the final 10 minutes. Eure wiped out that deficit with a traditional 3-point play to start the fourth quarter scoring.
 
After trading the lead back-and-forth, Patterson and Eure converted back-to-back layups for a 57-54 lead. Junior Danielle Levine scored four straight points for the Red Dragons to restore the home team's lead and again the teams alternated time in the lead until Patterson hit a triple for a 63-61 William Smith advantage with 3:27 left to play. It was the Herons final basket.
 
Hughes blocked and rebounded Cortland's next shot, giving the visitors a chance to extend their lead, but Taylor Miller came up with a steal leading to a Cohen basket that tied the game. William Smith misfired on a 3-point try the next time down the floor and Rice made a layup to give the Red Dragons the lead for good with 1:36 to go. A Heron turnover and a 3-point play by Rice made it a five-point lead with 47 seconds remaining. William Smith committed another turnover and was forced to foul. Chapko made both freebies to ice the win.
 
The Herons committed a season-low 16 turnovers, four fewer than the Red Dragons, but Cortland outrebounded William Smith 35-32, the first time the Herons have not ruled the glass this season.
 
William Smith will be back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 1, when they host an opening round doubleheader of the Wendy's College Classic. The Herons will play in the night cap at 8 p.m. The first game is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m.