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NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – After breaking a program record for wins in a season, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team (22-3, 16-2 SUNYAC) earned the top seed in the 2013 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Women's Basketball Tournament and will host the semifinal and final rounds of the tournament from Friday, Feb. 22, to Saturday, Feb. 23.  The Hawks will take on No. 5 SUNY Plattsburgh (15-11, 10-8 SUNYAC) in their semifinal matchup on Friday at 8 p.m.
 
TICKET INFORMATION: Tickets for Friday's semifinal games and Saturday's final game are $6 for adults, $3 for children 12 and under and FREE for all SUNY students with ID.
 
HOME-COURT ADVANTAGE: The Hawks finished the season 11-1 at the Hawk Center, losing their final regular season home game to SUNY Oneonta in overtime. That loss snapped the Hawks' 18-game home winning streak that stretched back to January 2012. Since the Hawk Center opened in 2006, the women's basketball team has a record of 74-14 (.841) at home. This year is the first time that New Paltz has hosted the SUNYAC Women's Basketball Tournament.
 
BATTLE OF THE BIRDS HISTORY: The Hawks and Cardinals have faced off 44 times, including the quarterfinal round of last year's SUNYAC Tournament, in which New Paltz defeated Plattsburgh, 81-69. The Hawks now lead the all-time series, 27-27, after winning both regular-season matchups this season. New Paltz won the first meeting, 75-71 in overtime at Plattsburgh, and then defeated the Cardinals at the Hawk Center, 72-60, later in the campaign.
 
SUNYAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY: New Paltz is in search of its first-ever SUNYAC title, as they are 6-10 all-time in the SUNYAC Tournament. The Hawks have made the conference tournament in each of head coach Jamie Seward's seven seasons at the helm. New Paltz has reached the tournament finals just one time, falling to SUNY Cortland in 2010, 51-45.
 
STATISTICAL LEADERS: While the Hawks do not have a single scorer in the top-10 in the SUNYAC, they finished the regular season with six student-athletes scoring 6.1 points per game or better, including three scoring 9.3 or better. Senior forward Alex McCullough (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central), who broke the 1,000-point plateau in the final regular season game against Oneonta, led the Hawks with 10.8 points per game, as well as 2.0 blocks per game. Freshman forward Michelle Valle (New York, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Science/Mathematics) finished second on the team with 9.7 points per game, while leading the squad with 8.0 rebounds per game. Senior guards Maliqua Fisher (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) and Kahsyrah Bryant (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) averaged 9.3 and 8.9 points per game, respectively. Fisher enters the tournament on a three-game double-double streak.
 
HEAD COACH JAMIE SEWARD: After this record-breaking regular season, Seward has improved his overall record to 127-60 as the New Paltz women's basketball head coach, making him by far the winningest coach in program history. As stated previously, he has never missed a SUNYAC tournament over his tenure in New Paltz, but is still in search of his first title. This year is the first time his team has finished the regular season atop the conference.
 
SCOUTING THE CARDINALS: The Cardinals head into the semifinal matchup on a six-game winning streak. Kathleen Payne leads Plattsburgh with 14.7 points per game up to this point, making her the second-leading scorer in the SUNYAC. She is also the team's leading rebounder with 6.8 boards per game. Payne scored a game-high 26 points in the Cardinals' quarterfinal victory over Oneonta on Tuesday, and pulled down 10 rebounds in the process to earn a double-double. Brittany Marshall leads the Cardinals and the conference with 4.6 assists per game. The Cardinals average 61.7 points per game, which is good for fourth in the conference. Head coach Cheryl Cole has amassed a 165-240 overall record in her time at Plattsburgh, and has qualified for the SUNYAC Tournament 12 times in her 14 seasons.