Box Score Box Score

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team (16-10) overcame a two-point halftime deficit, exploding for 42 second-half points in a 69-54 victory against SUNY Oswego (11-15) in the quarterfinal round of the 2011 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Women's Basketball Championship Tournament on Tuesday evening at the Hawk Center. 

With the win, the third-seeded Hawks will meet up with second-seeded SUNY Oneonta in the semifinals on Friday evening (Feb. 25) in Geneseo, N.Y. Top-seeded SUNY Geneseo earned the right to host the semifinal and final rounds of the tournament by throttling The College at Brockport, 73-33, in its quarterfinal-round match-up on Tuesday night. Tip-off will be at 6 p.m.

Oswego, which earned the No. 6 seed in the tournament, finishes its season at 11-15 overall.

New Paltz appeared destined toward a blowout victory in the early goings, scoring 10 unanswered the start the contest. The Lakers countered with a 12-2 run, and Meagan Stover drained back-to-back three-pointers to knot the tally at 12-all. A three ball by junior guard Caitlin Irwin (Brooklyn, N.Y.) capped off a 7-0 New Paltz spurt that followed, but Oswego poured in 10 straight behind the strength of five points from Traci Bacon, gaining the lead for the first time in the tilt.

Both squads traded buckets the remainder of the half, but the upset-minded Lakers entered the locker room with a 29-27 lead. That advantage would not hold, however, as the Hawks scored two baskets in the first minute of the fresh period to regain the lead, and an 11-0 run spanning 3:03 buried Oswego. New Paltz led by as many as 18 in the second stanza, and the Lakers were never able to draw closer than 11 points after the Hawks' devastating tear. The blue and orange finished strong, ending on a 6-2 run that was fueled by sophomore forward Kahsyrah Bryant (North Babylon, N.Y.), sophomore guard Maliqua Fisher (North Babylon, N.Y.) and junior guard Zoe Cohen (Brooklyn, N.Y.).

New Paltz took just one trip to the free-throw line in the first half but ended up seeing more action at the charity stripe in the second stanza, finishing the contest shooting at a 72.7 percent (8-of-11) clip from the line. On the game, the Hawks shot 43.8 percent (28-of-64) from the floor, while Oswego knocked down just 28.3 percent (15-of-53) of its shots. New Paltz held the edge on the glass (48-29), and the Lakers committed 26 turnovers to the Hawks' 23.

Junior forward Shanay Bradley (Bronx, N.Y.) energized New Paltz with a double-double, scoring 11 points and adding 13 rebounds. Irwin also netted 11 points, while Fisher and Cohen each added 10. Sophomore forward Alex McCullough (Delmar, N.Y.) dished out four assists, swatted one shot and notched one steal, while Irwin tied for the game-high in steals with three.

Oswego was led by Bacon, who drained a game-high 17 points in 33 minutes of action coming off the bench. She shot 5-of-5 from the field and 6-of-8 from the line. Stover netted 15 points, while Jenna Rossi distributed the rock well with four assists on the night. Kristin Diglio boasted three steals, and Kayla Ryan had the team-high in boards with six.