Box Score MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team dominated Purchase from start to finish in the Courtyard by Marriott Tournament hosted by Wesleyan (Conn.), defeating the Panthers 76-46 on Friday evening at Silloway Gym.
The Hawks move to 2-2 with the win and will play the host Cardinals tomorrow at 3 p.m. in the championship, as Wesleyan defeated Newbury 75-42 earlier on Friday night. The Panthers sit at 1-1 and will face the Nighthawks at 1 p.m. in the consolation game.
All but two players that appeared in the game for New Paltz scored at least two points with senior guard
Shannan Walker (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) leading the offense with 12 points, including a trio of three pointers. Sophomore forward
Courtney Irby (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) followed with 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field and pulled down nine boards.
Freshman forward
Norvonee Hall (Brooklyn, N.Y./Murry Bergtraum) recorded a team-high 11 rebounds and notched four points, two blocks and two steals. Junior forward
Ana Morel (New York City, N.Y./IN-Tech Academy 368) contributed 10 boards off the bench while sophomore guard/forward
Kit Small (Slingerlands, N.Y./Academy of the Holy Names) and freshman guard/forward
Laura Stuart (Levittown, N.Y./Division Avenue) both added seven points apiece.
New Paltz shot 33.3 percent from beyond the arc (11-of-33) as Walker and junior guard/forward
Colleen Ames (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) combined for five three-pointers.
The Hawks forced 28 Panther turnovers and scored 26 points off those miscues while the New Paltz bench contributed 50 points compared to just five by Purchase. For the Panthers, Elizabeth Osowiecki scored a game-high 19 points and Kristine Viven added 13 points.
The evening began with New Paltz claiming an 8-0 lead before the Panthers trimmed the edge down to four (11-7) with 11:41 to go in the first half. With New Paltz leading 18-14 with 9:32 to play, the Hawks went on a 28-5 spurt to take a 46-19 halftime advantage.
New Paltz claimed its largest lead of the night with 11:42 to play in the game, as the Hawks were ahead by 47 (68-21). With just six active players during the game, Purchase had a pair of players foul out, the second with 5:43 remaining, and finished the game with just four players on the court. Despite the disadvantage, the Panthers outscored the Hawks, 10-3, down the stretch despite playing four on five. This is the largest margin of victory for New Paltz since defeating Fredonia by 30 (77-47) back on Dec. 2, 2011.
