Box Score
ONEONTA, N.Y. – Senior guard/forward
Kit Small (Slingerlands, N.Y./Academy of the Holy Names) has become the program's all-time leader in career points (1,137) after recording 20 points in the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team's 61-60 win over State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) and Catskill Cup rival SUNY Oneonta on Saturday afternoon.
Small surpasses Robin Shields '00 who previously held the record with 1,135 career points and with the win New Paltz trails Oneonta, 15-12, in Catskill Cup standings.
New Paltz ran out to an early 13-4 lead in the opening period and continued to hold the advantage throughout the entire quarter despite Oneonta closing the gap to 18-14. The Hawks expanded their lead further in the second stanza as a 3-pointer by freshman guard
Sandi Harris (Georgetown, Texas/Georgetown) kept the score in New Paltz's favor but the Red Dragons remained close behind before grabbing their first lead of the game, 36-35, with 1:26 left to play in the first half.
Both teams battled for the advantage with the Red Dragons taking hold of the score, 42-38, in the last five seconds but the Hawks capitalized on three free throws from sophomore guard
Lindsay Bettke (Pelham, N.Y./The Ursuline School) to trail by one (42-41) at intermission.
The third period saw New Paltz regain the lead off an 8-0 run while limiting Oneonta to six points but solid free throw shooting placed the Red Dragons behind the Hawks, 51-50 at the 9:30 mark in the final quarter. The score remained tight throughout most of the period until Small made two free throw shots to bring the Hawks ahead, 61-59. One last Oneonta free throw cemented the final 61-60 tally as time expired.
The Hawks and the Red Dragons drew even on the score sheet in field goal percentage (36.1 percent) but Oneonta held a 44-39 advantage in rebounds while the Hawks converted 17 points off turnovers.
Small shot 8-of-15 from the field and pulled down a team-high nine rebounds while Bettke scored 13 points, going 5-of-5 from the charity stripe, 2-of-3 from beyond the arc and distributing four assists. Harris and freshman guard
Marion Dietz (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay-East Fishkill) each tallied nine points for New Paltz.
Three Oneonta players scored double-digit points in the loss with senior guard Cara Adams leading the way with 17 points while freshman guard/forward Leanne Corso and junior guard Samantha Lisikatos recorded 14 points and 10 points, respectively. Sophomore guard Teresa Anken recorded a team-high nine rebounds for the Red Dragons.
The Hawks improve to 6-7, 3-4 SUNYAC and will host SUNY Oswego on Tuesday, Jan. 17 in the Hawk Center at 7:30 p.m.
