NEW PALTZ, NY- Alexandra McCullough scored a career-high with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting and grabbed six rebounds as the Hawks defeated the Bears 67-52 Tuesday night in the Hawk Center.  The Hawks improve to 17-9 overall and will head to Cortland on Friday to square off against #2 Oneonta at 6 p.m. in the semifinals.  The Hawks forced 30 turnovers and had 13 steals as a team. 

Kaitlin Clifford scored a season-high 11 points as she was perfect from the floor, going 4-of-4, including 2-of-2 from behind the arc.  Head coach Jamie Seward said “We needed a little spark off the bench and Kaitlin gave us that spark.  She has been struggling all year with her shot, but she has been working extremely hard and I am glad her work is paying off at the right time.”  Carly Minehan finished with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Cortney Poirier netted a game-high 24 points and had five steals and Brittany Whitton had 17 points with four assists as Potsdam concludes their season with an 8-18 record.

The Hawks started slow in the first half hitting only 3-of-14 shots, but Potsdam was only able to build an 11 point lead.  The Hawks stormed back though with an 18-3 run to take a 21-17 lead with six minutes, 38 seconds to go.  The Hawks went into the half with a 30-25 lead as they outscored the Bears 13-2 off the bench and 10-2 on second chance points.

Potsdam started the second half scoring the first six points to take a 31-30 with 15 minutes, 55 seconds to go.  The Hawk quickly shut the run down with back-to-back free throws from Minehan and a lay-up by McCullough.  The Hawks continued to build their lead to as many as 14 with a 17-2 run.  Potsdam made a run to cut the lead to five with five minutes, 48 seconds to go, but a run of 14-2 sealed the victory for the Hawks.  The Hawks bench outscored the Bears 23-0 in the second half and 17-8 off turnovers.

“First of all, this win really demonstrates our depth of talent as our bench outscored theirs 36-2.  Katie Clifford gave us an enormous lift off of the bench to kind of jumpstart our offense after the slow start.  Then, a group consisting of four players off the bench and only one starter (Abbey, Maliqua, Alex, Katie and Caitlin) got us a little breathing room by playing outstanding defense and getting us some easy baskets off that defense.  Finally, three of our seniors (Maggie, Carly, and Nicole) put the final nail in the coffin and quelled their run by each taking a charge late in the game.  Overall, this was a great team win, and we are looking forward to this weekend” stated Seward.