Box Score Bethlehem, PA — The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team bounced back from a disappointing loss in the opening game of the Steel Club Classic at Moravian College with a victory over Delaware Valley University in the consolation game Monday.
 
With leading scorer Rachel Simon out for the Hawks (5-4 overall), junior Marion Dietz stepped up, scoring a season-high 20 points, while hitting timely shots and sparking the team's dominating third-quarter run, which propelled the, 67-59, win.
 
"I was proud of the way they did it," said SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward. "It was in no way pretty. It took a gritty and grimy effort where they had to leave blood and skin on the floor. We haven't had that kind of effort very often this year, and without it we wouldn't have gotten out of here with a win."
 
After a back-and-forth first quarter, the Aggies (5-6) had the opening advantage, leading for most second quarter. However, the momentum shifted over to the Hawks midway through the period thanks to Nicole Ziogas off the bench.
 
SUNY New Paltz had trouble finding its shooting stroke early in the first half, going scoreless from the three-minute mark of the second period until 1 minute, 5 seconds left before the break. But out of a timeout taken by Delaware Valley, SUNY New Paltz came out in a full court press and forced a turnover. Howell picked up the loose ball and found Bridget Whelan on the perimeter, who missed her initial attempt but hustled to get her own rebound and netted the put-back to end the scoring drought. On the next offensive possession Ziogas found the bottom of the hoop, swishing her shot from 3-point range to get her team within three.
 
SUNY New Paltz held Delaware Valley on the final offensive possession of the half, forcing two missed shots to keep the score at 31-28 and holding momentum going into halftime.
 
"Nicole also played with much more confidence and that's very encouraging. She is such a talented player and once she just lets herself go and be that player, she's going to be an awfully difficult matchup," Seward said. "Bridget also gave us a much-needed boost in the first half when we were struggling to score and adjusting to not having Rachel."
 
The play at the end of the half carried over into a dominant third quarter for the Hawks, which was carried by the play of Dietz on both ends of the floor. Dietz scored five-straight points midway through the period to give SUNY New Paltz its first lead since midway through the first quarter at 37-35.
 
The Aggies tied the score at 37, but Dietz answered with a long 3-pointer swished through the net with 3:35 left in the third to put her team back on top. Paige Niemeyer then added to the run with back-to-back buckets, which stemmed off defensive stops by SUNY New Paltz on the other end.
 
The Hawks out-scored Delaware Valley, 20-9 in the third quarter and went into the final 10 minutes with a 48-40 lead.
 
In a tight final period, the Aggies closed the gap to four with a 3-pointer by Lauren Moretti, but Dietz quickly answered for SUNY New Paltz, as she calmly knocked down an open 3 at the top of the arc to push the cushion back to seven with about four minutes left in the game.

With about 2:30 remaining, Dietz forced leading scorer Moretti to kick out the ball on a fast-break opportunity, with Ziogas meeting Delaware Valley's Sarah Wills at the perimeter to force a bad shot. After the Hawks picked up the defensive board, Dietz stayed aggressive on the ensuing possession, taking the ball to the hole and earning a trip to the line. She made the pair and extended the lead to 60-56.
 
As time winded down, the Aggies were forced to foul to extend the game. The Hawks made 5-of-6 from the line in the final minute to ice the win.
 
Along with her season- and-team-high 20 points, Dietz also added three rebounds and shot 6-for-12 from the field, including 4-for-7 from 3-point range in 33 minutes of action to earn an All-Tournament Team selection. Lindsay Bettke followed offensively for the Hawks, finishing with 15 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals in 33 minutes. Ziogas added 12 points, five rebounds and one block in 28 minutes off the bench.

Seward was especially pleased with the play of junior Madison Van Pelt, who didn't light up the stat sheet, but played a pivotal role all over the floor in a season-high 33 minutes played. She finished with four points, eight rebounds, three steals and a block in her first start of the season. 

"I thought Maddie's effort in particular was very encouraging. She was back to the old Maddie — all over the floor, literally," Seward said. "Paige had a much better effort as well — diving on the floor and getting to the glass. Marion too, she attacked the basket with much more confidence and gave us a huge lift offensively that we needed without Rachel. Lindsay came out aggressive early and put a little wind into our sails from a confidence standpoint that we really needed coming off of the last two losses." 
 
SUNY New Paltz will try and take its momentum into its next outing Thursday, when it hosts Mount Saint Mary College in the Hawk Center at 7 p.m. 

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