After a month off for finals and the holidays, the Panthers women's basketball team returned to the court Tuesday, hosting Monroe Community College for a non-division match. Monroe, a Division II (scholarship) program in basketball, handed the home team a loss, 74-67. Tompkins Cortland drops to 7-3 on the season; Monroe improves to 15-3.

The two teams went back-and-forth most of the first half, with Monroe taking a 39-35 lead into the break.  The Triunes stretched the lead to 12 point, but the Panthers fought back with a 15-6 run to pull within three points with 1:59 left. The margin bounced between three and five points until the Tribunes closed out the win by going 4-for-4 from the foul line over the last 17 seconds.

Khai Pugh (Syracuse/Nottingham H.S.) led the Panthers with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Javonte Long (Harlem/Clayton H.S.) had 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Bryan Viscaino (Manhattan/Monsignor Scanlon H.S.) had 12 points and Kobe Nwosu (Spring Valley/North Rockland H.S.) added 10 points and 6 boards.

Looking ahead

The Panthers play at SUNY Adirondack on Saturday.