State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball coach Jamie Seward walked away from the Hawks' most recent SUNYAC weekend disappointed with his team's effort. The Hawks, who already guaranteed a spot in the conference playoffs starting Feb. 20, had the opportunity to get a better grasp of the No. 2 seed heading into their matchups against SUNY Geneseo and The College at Brockport. But instead, went home with two losses that was capped off with one of their poorest performances of the season against the Golden Eagles.

"We had far too many players who were nothing more than observers out there and that is disappointing, especially at this juncture of the season," Seward said shortly following SUNY New Paltz's, 70-63, loss to The College at Brockport. "It will be interesting to see how they come back on Monday and whether they have a stronger resolve or if they are just done with this season, because tonight's effort was surprising and beyond disappointing."

The Hawks hope to erase that game from their memory, as they get back on the road and fight for a chance to host the first round of the SUNYAC playoffs this weekend against SUNY Potsdam (0-16 overall, 2-21 SUNYAC) and Plattsburgh State (6-10, 8-15). Two wins  all but guarantees at least one more game in the Hawk Center, but even a loss with a combination of how the Golden Eagles fare in their final two games could drop SUNY New Paltz down to a No. 5 seed, which would put the Hawks back on the road for the fourth-straight week.

"Having a home game on Tuesday would be huge since we just played six-straight away games," said SUNY New Paltz sophomore guard Marion Dietz. "To have a little mental break of not having to sit on the bus for four hours and just having the home crowd too to get us through the first round of playoffs is just going to be great."

The last time the Hawks went up against the Cardinals, they needed a strong second-half effort to overcome a slow shooting start. Their work on the glass, out-rebounding Plattsburgh State, 58-37, allowed them to dig out of a nine-point hole in the fourth quarter, as they got to the foul line 30 times, making 93 percent to help propel the win.

Rachel Simon was the catalyst in the game for SUNY New Paltz, finishing with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while the Cardinals were led by Anna Thompson, who finished with 13 points.

"Just to give more effort to get an easier win," said Dietz. "Everything we've been working on this week, making our lay-ups, taking our time, jump stopping, boxing out – all the little things, just to get a better win."

After defeating Plattsburgh State, 56-50, the Hawks built on their second-half momentum right off the opening tip the following day against the Bears. They led by as many as 47 in the game with four different people scoring in double figures. Defensively, SUNY New Paltz held SUNY Potsdam to just 37 points in a commanding 44-point victory, while allowing its opponent to shoot just 34.2 percent from the floor.

But maybe even more important than the victories this weekend for the Hawks is their performance in those games. It is imperative for SUNY New Paltz to re-gain some momentum before entering the postseason, especially if it hopes to collect its third straight SUNYAC title and make another trip to the NCAA Sweet 16, and hopefully beyond.

According to Dietz, her team remains confident. 

"This weekend is extremely important effort-wise, win-wise, everything," said Dietz. "We're still very confident in ourselves in that we can get our third-straight title. I think this weekend was kind of a wake-up call that we really need to hunker down and get better, and look within ourselves [to prepare] for next week."  

SUNY New Paltz is set to face SUNY Potsdam Friday at 5:30 p.m., and then will head to Plattsburgh State for a 1 p.m. tip-off against the Cardinals Saturday. Be sure to follow @nphawks on Twitter and @newpaltzhawks on Instagram and Facebook for updates, scores, recaps and more!