Jamie Seward's first season with the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team started with a win and was capped off with an improbable come-back playoff victory.

The Hawks were down 18 with three minutes to go in the quarterfinal round of the SUNYAC tournament against SUNY Geneseo – a rivalry, which has been revived throughout Seward's 12 seasons – and managed to cut the deficit down to 12 with 42 seconds remaining. There were unlikely odds for SUNY New Paltz to walk off its home floor victorious, but the Hawks managed to tie the score in regulation and then earn a stunning overtime victory to advance to the semifinal round of the SUNYAC tournament for the first time in 30-plus years.   

"It was the first time any women's team hosted a conference tournament game. It was a great atmosphere and really could put that against any comeback in the history of basketball," Seward said.

Seward's first season showed just a glimpse of what was to come. Since 2005 he has turned SUNY New Paltz women's basketball as a perennial contender year after year with 11 winning seasons, eclipsing various accolades along the way including this weekend, when the seasoned coach passed another career mark – his 200^th victory.

"I guess it means I hung around long enough," Seward said jokingly. "It means that we've been fortunate enough to have some really good people, some really good assistant coaches and some really good players. The win goes under my name, but certainly not a lot that I did. It means that we established something pretty good here and have been pretty consistent over a significant period of time."

Riding on a two-game winning streak entering their SUNYAC matchups against Oswego State and SUNY Cortland Jan. 5 and 6, respectively, the Hawks needed one more win to push Seward to the 200-win milestone. They responded with back-to-back 58-48 victories, which was capped off with a redemption game against the first-place Red Dragons who had beaten SUNY New Paltz by double figures earlier in the year. The Hawks not only returned the favor on their home floor, but also handed them their first conference loss of the year.

For Seward, having the milestone come on a pivotal SUNYAC weekend and at the Hawk Center, a place that opened during his first year, made it all the more special.

"I was fortunate enough to coach the first game and play in this building," Seward said. "It is something that we take a lot of pride in, opening a new building and lucky enough to be a part of that and protect that, and take pride in this nice, beautiful gym that we play in."

With the victories over the Lakers and Red Dragons this past weekend, it puts SUNY New Paltz back in the playoff mix, touting a 3-3 conference record more than midway through the year. It is in prime position to re-defend its SUNYAC title for the third consecutive season, and although Seward recognizes passing the 200-win threshold is special, he noted what matters most in bringing home more titles and making a run at a national championship.

"It definitely means something, because we're out there trying to win every time we go out. So to have that validated to a certain extent, it's not so much the particular number but more the idea that we've been able to win more than we have lost," he said. "We definitely would rather win 15 games and get two or three in the tournament and win a conference championship, than 25 and lose in a conference championship. That is what we as a coaching staff and a program always talk about is finishing strong. We want to win at the end of the year. But, to be able to win more than you lose that is always the goal."

Seward has had only one losing season in his career, a 4-14 mark during the 2013-14 season. The freshmen on that team, Kit Small and Courtney Irby, became the core of the program for the next three years and brought the Hawks their most successful season's to date, which includes two conference championships and an NCAA Sweet 16 appearance.

While reflecting back on the past 12 years, memories that stood out for Seward was that improbable overtime victory, along with his three SUNYAC title championship victories, especially the latest.

"The first conference championship here [in 2013] that was a long time coming… that feeling of thinking of all those players who had such significant contributions, who didn't get to stand up on that ladder and cut down that net, that was definitely an emotional game to remember," Seward recalled. "[And] the conference championship last year. That was probably the most emotional win… When we won it meant a lot. We really wanted Kit, Courtney and Morgan [Roessler] to finish their careers in the NCAA tournament. They deserved that. So getting that win, and the way we did it in such a close game, it came down right to the final buzzer. That was certainly memorable as well."

To date, Seward is the winningest women's basketball coach in the history of the program. He owns a remarkable 201-110 overall mark, which ranks as the highest winning percentage in program history (.547), which includes an astounding, 139-59 record in SUNYAC play (.424).

But for Seward, he modestly credited all the people -- coaches and players -- he has worked with along the way to the success he's seen the past 12 years.

"At the end of the day it is recorded on my record, but it's not my record," he said. "It is all these players and all these coaches that have had their hand in it. Mostly the players, at the end of the day they are the ones who make shots and get rebounds. So, really credit to great group of people and players that we've had over the years."