A cold night inside the gym cost the Tompkins Cortland Community College women's basketball team as the Panthers lost to Herkimer College 70-40 Tuesday. The Panthers are now 1-2 overall and 1-1 in Region III play. Herkimer is 2-2 overall and in region.
It was a slow start for the Panthers, with Herkimer scoring the first six points of the game. A three-pointer by Taylor Day (Brooktondale/Ithaca H.S.) broke the ice with 4:30 left in the quarter, but the cold shooting continued. The Panthers were held to just eight points in the first quarter on 2-of-13 shooting and trailed 16-8. Herkimer's lead grew to 11 points at 21-10 before the Panthers showed some signs of life, scoring 13 points over the final six minutes to send the game to the half with Herkimer leading 29-23.
Any hopes of momentum carrying over to the second half were quickly dashed as the third quarter opened with another cold spell. Over the first four minutes, Herkimer outscored the Panthers 10-1 to extend the lead to 39-24. A three-pointer by Macy Boice (Homer/Homer H.S.) sparked a spurt that saw the Panthers pull within ten points at 43-33 in the closing seconds of the quarter, but a last second basket by Herkimer made the margin 45-33 heading into the final quarter. It was the last real threat mounted by the Panthers as Herkimer scored the first seven points of the fourth and continued to extend the lead to the final horn.
The final numbers weren't good for the Panthers, with the team shooting below 16% in three of the four quarters and just 19.7% for the game. Day was the lone Panther to reach double figures, scoring 11 points to go with 5 rebounds. Shantasia Jeffrey (Harlem/Curtis H.S.) was next with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 steals. Boice had 7 points, 4 boards, 3 steals, and 2 assists. Reyanah Brown (Syracuse/Syracuse Academy of Science) had a team-best with 8 rebounds.
The Panthers are back on the road this weekend, with games at North Country Community College on Friday and Clinton Community College on Saturday.