UTICA, N.Y. – The SUNYIT Women's Basketball team (1-1, 0-0 NEAC) notched its first win of the young season on Monday, 73-56 over visiting SUNY Canton (2-5). The Wildcats jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, scoring 20 of the game's first 25 points and closing the first half up 43-30.

Leading the way for SUNYIT was junior forward Kayla McNeil (Stillwater, N.Y. / Stillwater) with 25 points on 11 of 19 shooting (2 of 3 from 3-pt range). McNeil had a monster game, leading the Wildcats with 11 rebounds (7 offensive) and 4 blocks as well.

After being nearly overrun to start the game, the Roos narrowed the gap to just 9 points with under a minute to go in the half. A quick score by junior guard Lyndsey Brognano (Rome, N.Y. / Rome Free Academy) and an offensive rebound/put-back by forward Ashley Schmidt (Camden, N.Y. / Camden) with 2 seconds left on the clock put the Wildcats back up to a semi-comfortable 13-point lead. Brognano, the Wildcats leading scorer last year, finished the game with 17 points on a relatively cool 8 for 19 shooting performance (she scored 28 points on 9 of 12 shooting in the Wildcats first game).

One of the keys for the Wildcats was holding SUNY Canton standout Kayla McNeil – the team's statistical leader in virtually every category – to 17 points on a pedestrian 5 for 19 shooting day. Defense in general was a key for SUNYIT, as they forced 19 Kangaroo turnovers to help make up for a lukewarm shooting night (the Wildcats shot 40% from the field, barely edging Canton's 36%).

Senior captain and point guard Kwanisha Jones added a workwoman-like performance for SUNYIT with 11 assists, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals, helping the Wildcats to finish with 22 team assists to just 13 turnovers.