Box Score Box Score

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team (7-5, 5-0 SUNYAC) stretched its win streak to four games on Tuesday evening in the Hawk Center, besting SUNY Cortland (8-2, 3-1 SUNYAC) by a count of 59-54 in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action.

The game was a rematch of the 2010 SUNYAC Tournament final, which Cortland won, 51-45. The Red Dragons had swept the regular-season series between the two squads last year in addition to their victory in the postseason.

Sophomore guard Maliqua Fisher (North Babylon, N.Y.) propelled the Hawks to the victory in Tuesday's edition of the rivalry, dominating the transition game. She totaled five steals on the evening to go along with a game-high 24 points, which came off 10-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-6 shooting from the line. She also reigned supreme on the glass, collecting a game-high 13 boards to complete the double-double.

Junior point guard Kaitlin Clifford (Staten Island, N.Y.) joined Fisher in double figures with 12 points off 4-of-9 shooting, which included a 3-of-7 mark from long range. Junior forward Shanay Bradley (Bronx, N.Y.) pulled down 12 boards and added a block, two assists and four points.

For Cortland, four players reached double-figure scoring totals. Micki Volpini headed the attack with 14 points, while Brittany Cohen added 13. Molly Byrne and Jennifer Patten each chipped in 10 to round out the Red Dragon scorers in double figures. Byrne and Cohen each handed out three assists, while Byrne boasted a team-high nine rebounds.

New Paltz surprised the defending league champions early, going up by as many as 10 points in the first half and taking a seven-point lead into the intermission with the score at 31-24 in favor of the Hawks. A 7-0 run capped by a Bradley jumper to start the half put the blue and orange up 14. Cortland would fight back, however, and proceeded to go on a 10-2 run to cut the margin to six.

Mary Bruns gave the Red Dragons their first lead since the first minute of the contest with 5:11 to go in regulation, as she knocked down a jumper to put Cortland on top 49-48. Fisher countered with a made trey on the next possession, and the Hawks would end up building a five-point advantage with 32 ticks to go in the half.

B. Cohen drained two free throws to whittle the lead to three, but junior guard Zoe Cohen (Brooklyn, N.Y.) brought the advantage back out to five with two made foul shots of her own with 23 seconds remaining. B. Cohen was fouled again and cut the lead to three once more, but Z. Cohen made a pair of free throws with four seconds left to ice the game.

New Paltz will travel to the Rochester area this weekend, taking on SUNY Geneseo and The College at Brockport in SUNYAC action. The Hawks tip with the Blue Knights at 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 14, in Geneseo, N.Y., and square off with the Golden Eagles at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 15, in Brockport, N.Y.