Box Score

CORTLAND, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team fell to host and State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) foe SUNY Cortland, 62-49, in its first contest of 2017 on Friday evening.

The Hawks drop to 5-5, 2-3 SUNYAC and will visit SUNY Oswego tomorrow for a 4 p.m. contest. Cortland rises to 5-6, 4-1 SUNYAC and will host SUNY Oneonta tomorrow at 4 p.m.

Freshman guard Marion Dietz (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay-East Fishkill) paced the Hawks with 15 points, shooting 7-of-9 from the foul line, and added seven boards. Freshman forward Paige Niemeyer (North Chatham, N.Y./Ichabod Crane) also chipped in seven rebounds for the night as well as nine points and three steals.

For Cortland, senior guard Cassidy Chapko scored a team-high 15 points while senior guard/forward Stephanie Rice tallied 13 points and senior forward Alyssa Crosby pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.

Both teams played a close first quarter with New Paltz gaining a small 5-3 advantage off of three consecutive free throws by Dietz. The Red Dragons were quick to tie up the score before taking an 8-5 lead but the Hawks would close the gap to one thanks to a layup by Niemeyer in the final 30 seconds.

Despite New Paltz having a one point advantage in the start of the second quarter, Cortland pushed a 6-0 run to expand their lead to 14-9. The Hawks slowly chipped away the Red Dragon's lead, closing the gap to 22-18 with 2:30 left to play but could only grab one more point off of a Dietz free throw before Cortland headed into halftime with a large 30-19 edge.

Cortland pushed a hard offense to extend its lead to by more than 20 points in the third quarter, heading into the final stretch with a 49-21 gap. New Paltz fought back to cut the deficit, eventually bringing the score to 62-49 with 24 seconds to go but Cortland would hold onto the ball until time expired to seal the win.