Box Score New Paltz, NY — Heading into halftime against visiting Fredonia State Saturday, it was clear the difference in the game for the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team was rebounding.
 
The Hawks (10-6 overall, 6-4 SUNYAC) were winning the turnover battle (13-4), but still trailed by three at the half. So coming out of the break, they made a valiant effort to turn those stats around and responded with a prolific third quarter spurred by its effort on the boards. SUNY New Paltz out-scored the Blue Devils, 27-12 in the quarter to re-gain the advantage and create enough of a cushion to help pull away for the eventual, 64-55 win.
 
"[Rebounding] was definitely the first thing we talked about," said Hawks coach Jamie Seward. "It's something that we've been talking about. A lot of it is just grabbing it with two hands. We do a lot of tipping at the ball, instead of grabbing it strong and finishing it. That was definitely the first thing we talked about and I think we definitely did a better job in the second half. We had more of a concerned effort to get to the offensive glass."
 
There were six lead changes in the first 20 minutes, but ultimately the Blue Devils (7-11 overall, 5-6 SUNYAC) held the advantage at the half after ending the second period on an 8-2 run to take a 28-25 lead.
 
SUNY New Paltz looked at the stat line and knew its focus should be on the glass and responded with a dominating third quarter where it out-rebounded Fredonia State, 10-6 in the period, including 6-1 on the offensive glass and capitalized with 10 second-chance points.
 
Maddie Van Pelt, who suited up Friday but did not start due to illness, was crucial on the glass in that stretch. She picked up a pair of offensive boards in the period and ultimately led her team with 11 crucial rebounds in the game.
 
"At halftime we talked about how we had eight defensive rebounds to their eight offensive rebounds, which is not very good at all," said SUNY New Paltz sophomore guard Marion Dietz. "So we talked about how we needed to pound them as hard as they were pounding us and Maddie and Paige [Niemeyer] did a great job of getting to the offensive glass. Maddie did a great job of getting every defensive rebound, especially in the fourth quarter."
 
The Hawks saw their lead balloon to as much as 16 in the third quarter after a 22-6 stretch led by Rachel Simon, who hit five shots in that spurt, including knocking down three from the arc.
 
But Fredonia State crept back into the game toward the end of the quarter, tallying six points in the last two minutes and narrowing the deficit to 12.
 
"Our third quarter was really good, but again we let them back in the game at the end of the third, beginning of the fourth," Dietz said. "If we can learn to hammer them in the beginning of the third, like we were today that is going to get us far."
 
The fourth quarter mirrored the first half and started becoming tighter down the stretch. Alisha Zumigala hit both free throws with 3 minutes, 25 seconds left and brought the Blue Devils within one point.
 
However, SUNY New Paltz kept the damage at a minimum and responded with nine-straight points to end the game, led by Dietz. She immediately got to the foul line following the Blue Devils timeout and extended the Hawks advantage back to three. Dietz then followed her self up with a 3 following a Fredonia State miss on the other end, and finally iced the win with two more from the charity stripe with 19 seconds remaining.
 
"Marion really did make some big plays," Seward said. "Got to the basket, got to the foul line, made a couple big 3's and made a really big 3 late that gave us that six-point lead. That was huge."
 
With the absence of junior captain and leading scorer, Lindsay Bettke who was out with an ankle injury, multiple people stepped up to fill her shoes. Dietz and Simon filled the void offensively, while Dietz, Niemeyer and Howell led the team on the floor in different roles.
 
"At halftime I looked at the stats and said, if we're going to be good, long term, but even short term win the game today without Lindsay, Marion and Paige has to do better than 1-of-6 each or whatever they were in the first half," Seward said. "Paige still struggled to make shots, but she was a presence. She got fouled a few times and struggled making a few free throws, but got to the line and was certainly a presence in the paint even though she didn't make some shots.
 
"Taylor was really good too. She made a couple shots and did a good job of handling the ball. She got us in good spots for the most part offensively and did a good job defensively getting in the head of their point guard, and taking her out of the game early. She wasn't able to bring the ball up early and got a little bit tentative and that certainly helped too."
 
Howell did a terrific job on the Blue Devils' leading scorer, Jacque Law who entered the game just 13 points shy of the 1,000-point mark. Howell was all over her defensively, denying Law the ball and kept the senior in check for just four points on 2-of-7 shooting.
 
But the Hawks got contributions from a variety of players. Dietz (20 points, 3 rebounds, 3 steals) and Simon (20 ponts, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals) led the team offensively, but Howell pitched in with nine points to go along with a strong defensive effort. Niemeyer finished with six points and was a presence in the paint, while Van Pelt was vital on the boards.
 
"A lot of contributions from a lot of people and that is what you got to do when people go down," Seward said. "Everybody has got to step up a little bit and one person isn't going to step in and make up for her, so everybody has to do their job and do it really well."
 
SUNY New Paltz doesn't have much rest or time to enjoy its third-straight win, as the Hawks hit the road Monday to take on Mount Saint Mary College for a 7 p.m. game Monday, and then will be back home Friday and Saturday to conclude its final games in the Hawk Center against Plattsburgh State and SUNY Potsdam.

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