Box Score New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team set the tone at the start of both halves Tuesday night during its SUNYAC quarterfinal match up against No. 5 The College at Brockport.
 
The Hawks (17-9 overall, 13-6 SUNYAC) used their full-court pressure to ignite momentum early and then netted 11-straight points coming out of the break to propel a 68-56 first round win.
 
"We had a few games in the past where we didn't come out strong in the second half and that really played to our disadvantage with the other team making a run on us," said SUNY New Paltz guard Lindsay Bettke. "But I think this game we came out foot on the pedal and ready to go. We were still in that attack mindset and it showed."
 
The Golden Eagles (12-14 overall, 10-9 SUNYAC) had beaten the Hawks in their most recent match up in Brockport on Feb.10. Their dominance in the paint and on the glass was the difference in that game, and SUNY New Paltz knew the battle underneath the basket was again going to be key heading into Tuesday's contest.
 
"I think rebounding is what led us to this win," said Hawks guard Rachel Simon. "Last time we played them they out-rebounded us offensively and defensively. We really honed in on cleaning up on the glass and I think that was definitely the overall game changer for us."
 
What really set the tone in the first half was SUNY New Paltz's full court pressure. The College at Brockport had trouble adjusting early, leading to 13 first-half turnovers. Caused turnovers combined with the Hawks' first-half prowess on the boards helped ignite a 35-29 lead at the break.
 
"I think our pressure gave them some problems and got us going," said SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward. "The pressure got us some easy baskets when we weren't finishing some other stuff within our offense and I think that really took a little pressure off us. Otherwise, we might have been down or tied at the half. I think the pressure we put on in the full court gave them some issues and really helped us establish that lead."
 
The Hawks continued to build on their cushion right out of the break. It took Bettke just 14 seconds before burying a 3 to open up the third quarter.
 
After getting a stop on the defensive end, Amanda Skopetos picked up an offensive board on a missed shot by Simon and sank her jumper to continue the run. Simon quickly got the ball back for SUNY New Paltz, earning a steal in the open floor, which led to another basket for Skopetos.
 
Bettke then got another steal for the Hawks, and easily laid in her bucket in transition before Marion Dietz capped off the run with a made jumper with 6 minutes, 43 seconds left in the quarter.
 
SUNY New Paltz led by as many as 18 in the third quarter, but the Golden Eagles continued clawing its way back. They outscored the Hawks 16-14 in the fourth and cut the lead to as little as eight down the stretch, but couldn't get timely shots to fall.
 
"I am impressed with our team's resiliency," said The College at Brockport coach Corinne Jones. "I thought we never gave up and that has been our M.O all year. It doesn't matter if we're up or down. We are going to be competitive until the end and I thought winning the fourth quarter, 16-14, was really a testament to how much we wouldn't stop. We wouldn't quit. We wouldn't give up. I am proud of my group for doing that."
 
Simon sank 5-of-6 from the foul line in the final two minutes to ice the game for the Hawks, who advances to their fourth-straight conference semifinals.
 
"We did what we needed to do to keep the season alive," Seward said. "We rebounded the ball much better. They still scored a lot of points in the paint, but we did a much better job of making it a little bit more difficult and really keeping them off the glass, which is where they really beat us up last time."
 
SUNY New Paltz won the battle on the glass, 43-39, and grabbed 16 of its boards on the offensive end, while forcing 19 turnovers in the game.
 
"Honestly, I just think we came out with a better start at home," said Golden Eagles forward Lindsay Johnson of the difference between Tuesday's game and the Feb. 10 match up. "We were more comfortable being at home. We came out here and put ourselves in a hole and it was hard to come back from."
 
Simon and Bettke led the Hawks with 19 points apiece. Simon made 10-of-12 from the free throw line, while adding seven rebounds, two assists and four steals, while Bettke shot 8-for-14 from the field and added four rebounds, two assists and five steals. Skopetos followed with nine points and seven rebounds.
 
Johnson led the Golden Eagles with 15 points, nine rebounds and two blocks. Although she still put up big numbers, the Hawks made sure to limit her as much as possible after she dropped 24 points and 19 rebounds in their last outing.
 
"We made her work in a lot of areas," Seward said. "… That was our goal, just to make her really have to work and take away anything easy she could get. If she was going to beat us than she would have to play a lot of minutes to do it and do it in every aspect of the game at a high level in terms of putting effort out there. We thought we could wear her down a little bit and I think we did. She still had a good game. She's a really good player, but she had to work for it and I think that had some long-term consequences as the game went on. I think some of the stuff that probably would have been easy hoops for her, she just didn't have the energy to finish or get that position she needed to. But she is tough, and we really needed to work in order to do it."
 
Next up for SUNY New Paltz is top-seeded SUNY Geneseo, which has yet to lose in conference play this season. The Hawks are scheduled to tip-off against the Knights on their home floor at 7:30 p.m. Friday. That winner will play the winner of No. 6 Buffalo State and No. 2 SUNY Oneonta in the championship game Saturday at 4 p.m.

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