Over the month-long, 10-game span, the SUNY New Paltz’s Women Basketball team has won seven – but just like the men’s team, they still haven’t been able to earn more than three consecutive wins.
Unfortunately, when trying to break the triple-streak cycle and gain a fourth consecutive victory, the women hawks couldn’t muster up enough to upset the Red Dragons on the road. Even though the Lady Hawks had a triumphant conference win against Geneseo (59-46), they started with a poor-shooting performance and couldn’t climb out of the double-digit hole in time. The Hawks hit just three shots in the first quarter, while the Cortland Red Dragons had a hot start with a 7-0 lead and retained a 10 point cushion as they entered the second. SUNY New Paltz ultimately finished 17 for 70 from the floor, including 7 for 33 from behind the arc, compared to the Red Dragons’ 12 for 23 from the three-point arc.
When recovering from Friday’s devastating loss of 62-46, to SUNYAC’s first place Cortland, New Paltz’s Lady Hawks made the necessary adjustments in order to bounce back and defeat the Oswego Lakers at home.
Saturday, Jan. 29, the Hawks clinched their ninth conference win of the season after overpowering SUNY Oswego, 62-57. “Excellent team effort even if we didn’t play great,” said Head Coach Jamie Seward to Athletic Communications Director, Monica D’Ippolito, referring to the low-scoring and slow-starting opening quarters. Although Oswego tied the game midway through the third, SUNY New Paltz never faltered their aggression and control of the ball with some essential baskets from third-years Lexi Van Vorst and Maddie Gillis and second-year Brianna Fitzgerald.
Oswego players didn’t back down from the aggression, however, as a three-pointer by Raiven Encarnacion cut the difference 26-18. Then the Hawks were struck with a technical foul, which made the Lakers capitalize with a free throw and another three in the next possession. Luckily, Van Vorst stepped up her game. The guard became the scoring leader with 14 points by the end of the night, going 4 for 7 from the three-point range. The seasoned player also came in clutch defensively, adding three rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal to her stats. Fitzgerald came second, scoring 11 points and attaining four rebounds to her name.
Hopefully, the women will continue this momentum when they face off against the Bengals at SUNY Buffalo on Feb. 4, and Fredonia State on Feb. 5, for their final regular-season road games.
