After starting the season with a 3-0 record, the Women’s basketball team has lost two out of their last three games.
The Hawks fell in a nonconference game versus Hartwick College 63-54 on Monday, Nov. 23.
The Hawks were able to erase a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter that brought them within one of Hartwick (52-51). However, several late game fouls against New Paltz resulted in free-throw conversions to secure the win for Hartwick.
As a team, the Hawks put up 22 points off Hartwick’s 25 turnovers, while committing 18 turnovers of their own.
Second-year guard Sydney Pinn led the Hawks with a career-high 15 points and six assists. She also grabbed five rebounds in the losing effort. Hawks third-year co-Captain Courtney Irby contributed 10 points, nine rebounds (a team-high) and blocked three shots.
The following day, the Hawks took a 66-57 nonconference win against Mount Saint Mary College.
Hawks Head Coach Jamie Seward said the Hawks responded well, despite the Mountaineers solid play.
“We had a couple of players out,” he said. “It was nice to see them respond favorably to the adverse circumstances and pull out a win.”
Turnovers were key to the Hawks win and point total, as they transformed the Knights’ 22 into the same amount of points.
Individually, Hawks fourth-year guard Colleen Ames led the team with 17 points, shooting 40 percent from the three-point arc. Hawks second-year guard and forward Laura Stuart followed putting 14 points on the board. Irby recorded a double-double, scoring 10 points and tallying a team-high 13 rebounds.
After a week between games, the Hawks dropped a 71-48 nonconference loss against No. 5 New York University (NYU) on Tuesday, Dec. 1.
Seward said the Hawks got to see a team of their caliber up-close and it will hopefully be a good learning experience for the team to be able to see what their opponent does and in the consistency in which they capitalize on it to succeed.
“Why they are a top-five team is very apparent,” he said. “If we want to get to that level, then we have to do those things and we have to do them consistently which is what they did.”
Irby said the best preparation starts at the Hawks practices, which since the beginning of the season started have been very intense and competitive.
“We look to increase the intensity so we make sure that we are where we need to be,” she said.
With a 4-2 overall record, the Hawks will begin State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play and continue their five-game homestand as they host SUNY Plattsburgh on Friday, Dec. 4 at 5:30 p.m. The next day, the Hawks will play another conference opponent in SUNY Potsdam at 2 p.m. They will continue their homestand with a nonconference matchup against Vassar College on Tuesday, Dec. 8 at 6 p.m.
Last season, the Hawks split a pair of games against Plattsburgh and took both matchups against Potsdam. Overall, they put up a conference record of 13-5 and eventually advanced to the 2015 SUNYAC Tournament in the semifinals before losing to SUNY Cortland.
Seward said the team played really well at home last season, losing only one game. They hope to continue that trend this season by next taking on an undefeated 4-0 Cardinals team.
“Hopefully we got that one out of the way against NYU and we can go on another run,” he said. “We know it is going to be a challenging slate in front of us starting right away with Plattsburgh, who is very good. It doesn’t get any easier playing against a strong team as they are. We know that it is going to be quite a challenge on Friday.”
