The SUNY New Paltz women’s basketball team continued their reign this past weekend, defeating both the Buffalo State Bengals and SUNY Fredonia Blue Devils at home.
The Hawks started off the game by taking the first quarter with force. Earning 14 to the Bengals’ four, the Hawks were soaring their way to an eventual win.
Fourth-year forward Maddie Van Pelt scored a pair of points at 8:18, and fourth-year forward Paige Niemeyer followed with another pair at 7:01. About a minute later, Niemeyer came back with another two at 6:08. Fourth-year forward Philesha Teape tallied two on the board at 5:39. The Lady Hawks continued, as first-year forward Maddie Gillis scored two at 2:29 and Van Pelt put up another two with 54 seconds remaining.
The Hawks followed suit in the second quarter. Teape, first-year guard Badura, Niemeyer, first-year guard Graci Serravillo, first-year guard Cassidy Deaver and Van Pelt all put points on the board. Scoring a total of 16 points added to their previous score, the Hawks were up 30-18, as the Bengals couldn’t seem to catch up.
Forced fouls seemed to dominate the next quarter, as the Bengals earned a total of 14 free throws, sinking 11 of 14. The Hawks upped the score 49-39, but the Bengals were still behind in double digits. Earning their own fair share of appearances on the line, the Hawks sunk 7-out-of-8 in free throws, while adding 17 points to their overall score. Although the Bengals consistently fought to bring themselves up to the Hawks’ level, they lost 66-60, finally breaking down the double digit barrier but fell too short.
The Hawks were back at the Hawk Center on Saturday at 2 p.m. to go head-to-head in SUNYAC play against the Blue Devils.
Dietz started off the first quarter against the Blue Devils, earning two points that were supplemented by Niemeyer, who added two more less than 30 seconds after. The Hawks continued this intensity throughout the quarter, adding points from first-year guard Lexi Van Vorst, Badura and Van Pelt. The Hawks led 20-10 going into the second.
Badura started off the second, sinking a good jumper, where Teape followed by sinking two free throws. Badura sunk four free throws throughout the quarter, while Deaver added a layup and one free throw. Gillis assisted the team with a good jumper to finish their scoring for the end of the second. The Hawks led 33-19 going into the half.
Although the Hawks did not score as much as in previous quarters, they still overpowered the Blue Devils. Niemeyer sunk a layup and earned three free throws, while Van Vorst sunk a two-pointer. The Hawks went into the third leading 40-31.
In the fourth and final quarter of the game, Dietz took control of the free throw line, sinking 4-out-of-6 free throw opportunities. With Dietz hitting the final jumper of the game with 21 seconds remaining, the Hawks defeated the Blue Devils 53-40.
“We’re halfway through SUNYAC play now since we’ve played everybody once so we’ve got a pretty good idea of where we fit in,” said Head Coach Jamie Seward. “We’ve had a lot of close games recently so we have a lot of work to do and we’re going to get back to that [championship] level. We got a good group and they want to be good, it is just a matter of putting the time and focus into the right things to get there.”
The Lady Hawks return to action at home at 2 p.m. on Feb. 1 as they take on the Oneonta Red Dragons.
