Box Score New Paltz, NY — What the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team needed to do most Saturday was finish.
 
The Hawks (7-5 overall, 3-3 SUNYAC) led by as many as 22 on the day, but with a minute remaining visiting SUNY Cortland (6-5 overall, 5-1 SUNYAC) crept back in the game to get within seven. However, timely rebounding and clutch 3-point shooting by junior transfer Rachel Simon allowed SUNY New Paltz to walk away with a 58-48 win.
 
"We talked a lot about not thinking about winning or losing, but thinking instead about dominating every play. We got to finish," said Hawks coach Jamie Seward. "We were settling a little bit… I just said to stay aggressive and make sure you finish on the defensive side and know where the shooters are, and rebound the ball."
 
Seward was on his team about defending, rebounding and closing out the game in their previous outing against Oswego State Friday, and the Hawks responded by coming out with a ton of energy at the start of Saturday's contest, especially on the defensive end.
 
SUNY New Paltz controlled the game from the opening tip. The Hawks knocked down nearly 50 percent from 3-point range and got after the Red Dragons defensively. They forced six first-quarter turnovers, which helped build a 21-7 advantage at the end of the first 10 minutes.
 
"We kind of just had an aggressive mindset," Simon said. "We're after it and no let up no matter who we're playing. We got shooters on our team and we can work it in the post too, so we're kind of feeding off whatever defense they were doing and made important shots. We got it in the post, got fouled a couple times and we took advantage."
 
SUNY Cortland's offense started coming alive in the second quarter, making 5-of-11 attempts from the field and got within as much as 11 in the period.
 
However, led by Simon and Marion Dietz on the offensive end, SUNY New Paltz moved the ball well and hit big shots down the stretch of the first half and went into the break boasting a 37-19 lead.
 
The Hawks advantage ballooned to 22 twice in the third quarter, but a 6-0 run by the Red Dragons at the end of the period diminished the advantage to 14 entering the fourth.
 
"The whole game was that they made shots," said SUNY Cortland coach Jeannette Mosher. "First half they made 9-of-19 from 3-point range and when we did cut it to 14 they made a couple big 3's and that was the difference, and then when we did make shots we weren't stopping them. So we did get stuck, staying around 10-12 instead of coming around to that a little bit earlier."
 
The score was fixed at 51-40 for the majority of the fourth quarter with both teams struggling to find the bottom of the hoop. Madison Van Pelt broke the stalemate with a made free throw, but SUNY Cortland responded with a 5-0 run, capped off with a 3 by Kristy Vitucci with 1 minute, 42 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to seven — the closest the Red Dragons had been to the lead all game.
 
But, SUNY New Paltz answered about 30 seconds later with a Rachel Simon corner 3 to push the advantage back to 10. The Hawks then got a stop on the defensive end and Simon buried another in the same spot behind the perimeter, adding to the lead and all but sealing the win.
 
"We didn't make shots when we were stopping them and what happened was we were too much of a hole to dig out of it," Mosher said. "If it was only maybe 12 at halftime, then maybe it would have been a tied game in the fourth quarter. We just dug ourselves too much in a hole and a part of that was that they were hitting shots. That makes things a lot easier. The defense picks up when you're making shots. So, they did what they needed to do. They won on their home court, so that was a big win for them."
 
The Hawks collected their fourth-straight victory and handed SUNY Cortland its first SUNYAC loss of the year, while also avenging an early season loss against the Red Dragons.
 
"This was huge for us, but it was just another step in the right direction," Simon said. "The first time of course stunk and we wanted redemption real bad, so we were getting after it this game and for the rest of the season we're after it."
 
Simon recorded a game- and season- high 19 points after shooting a 50 percent (6-13) from the field, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range, while adding three assists, a rebound and a steal in 36 minutes of action. Dietz followed with 11 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal, while Lindsay Bettke added 10 points, six boards, and an assist.
 
As a team, SUNY New Paltz shot just about 31 percent from the floor and held SUNY Cortland to 34 percent shooting. But the Hawks won the turnover battle, forcing 18 turnovers to just 10 on their end, and although the Red Dragons collected more rebounds (41-37), SUNY New Paltz pulled down 13 on the offensive glass, which proved pivotal in the game.
 
Seward stressed the importance of dominating on the boards and called out sophomore forward Madison Van Pelt in particular, who responded with 11 rebounds — one shy of matching her season high — in a stout defensive performance.
 
"I got on her yesterday about only having one rebound, but she's a kid that I didn't even have to tell her. I'm sure she knew going in and she takes everything to heart," Seward said. "She came in and did a great job on the glass for us. She got a couple extra possessions on the offensive end and finished several on the defensive end, so definitely a nice effort out of her and did a nice job defensively as well. She didn't make that many shots around the basket, but she did a lot of things to help us win the game today."

The Hawks are back on the road Saturday, when they take on SUNY Oneonta for a 1 p.m. match up. For live updates, recaps, photos, video and more, be sure to follow @nphawks on Twitter and @newpaltzhawks on Instagram and Facebook.