Box Score Box Score

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Despite being down by a point at halftime, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team (8-7, 6-2 SUNYAC) was able to defend its home floor, as the Hawks won, 63-51, over SUNY Oneonta (12-3, 6-2 SUNYAC) on Friday evening in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action in the Hawk Center.

Thanks to 12-of-21 shooting (57.1 percent) from the floor in the second half, the Hawks were able to push past the Red Dragons. Oneonta shot just 26.1 percent (6-of-23) from the field in the final 20 minutes and wound up shooting 30.6 percent (15-of-49) on the night. New Paltz shot 43.4 percent (23-of-53) on the evening. Both squads grabbed 37 rebounds as well.

Oneonta hopped out to an early lead, and a Rebecca Bucci three-pointer put the Red Dragons up 13-7 with 14:25 remaining in the first half. The Hawks then went on a 6-0 run behind four points from junior guard Caitlin Irwin (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to knot the tally at 13-all with 9:57 to play in the stanza. Oneonta would reclaim the advantage and held at least a share of the lead until sophomore forward Alex McCullough (Delmar, N.Y.) put the Hawks up 28-26 on a jumper in the paint with 2:06 left on the clock. The Red Dragons closed the half on a 3-0 tear and took a 29-28 cushion into the intermission.

It was all New Paltz in the second half, as the Hawks set the tone early. McCullough scored four points in a 6-0 spurt that opened the half before giving the blue and orange its first double-digit lead of the evening after knocking down a foul shot with 12:57 remaining in regulation to push the score to 44-34 in favor of New Paltz. Oneonta could not pull much closer, and the Hawks boasted their largest lead of the contest with 56 seconds to go when McCullough put New Paltz on top 63-49 with a made free throw.

McCullough had a lights-out performance, shooting 8-of-10 from the field and 6-of-8 from the line to score a game-high 23 points. She also added three assists, three blocks and one steal. Junior guard Zoe Cohen (Brooklyn, N.Y.) drained in 14 points coming off the bench to round out the Hawks' double-digit scorers. Junior forward Shanay Bradley (Bronx, N.Y.) had a game-high 12 rebounds, while Irwin, McCullough and Cohen all dished out three assists.

For Oneonta, Kristin Pappalardo was the lone double-digit scorer, posting 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 2-of-2 shooting from the line. Rebecca Bucci had an impressive line with eight points, eight rebounds and five assists to go along with three steals. Erika Puffer caromed nine rebounds coming off the bench.

New Paltz rounds out the first half of league play on Tuesday, Jan. 25, with a 6 p.m. SUNYAC clash with SUNY Oswego in the Hawk Center.