Dressing only five players, the Panthers women's basketball team controlled the game from the opening tip on Saturday, beating North Country Community College 71-42. Tompkins Cortland is now 3-2 overall. North Country drops to 0-5.

The Panthers led from the start, but really put a gap on the Saints in the second quarter. After holding a 12-8 lead after the first ten minutes, the Panthers outscored the Saints 27-10 in the second to take a commanding lead into the locker room. The Saints cut into the lead a little early in the third, but the spread never got into single digits and was back to 20 points by the end of the quarter.

Three of the Panthers combined to score 69 of the 71 points. Neroj Barwari (Union-Endicott/Union-Endicott H.S.) led the team with 27 points, while also recording 8 steals, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. Amyra Portillos (Sandia Park, N.M./Manzano H.S.) was next with 23 points, 17 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 4 steals, and Michaela Jean-Philippe (Binghamton/Binghamton H.S.) had 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 42 steals.

Tiara Ridley (Bronx/South Bronx Prep) finished with 2 points, but also had 8 rebounds and 4 steals. Alexya Avila (Lawrence, Mass./Abbott Lawrence Academy) was kept off the scoreboard, but contributed with 5 rebounds.

Looking ahead

The Panthers have a break for the Thanksgiving holiday. The next game will be at home on Wednesday, December 4 against Jefferson Community College.