Box Score Geneseo, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team couldn't overcome an early first quarter deficit against top-seeded SUNY Geneseo Friday in the SUNYAC semifinals and ultimately, saw its season come to an end after the, 63-57, defeat.
 
The Knights (24-2) came out hot on their home court, scoring on their first three possessions and hit eight of their first 11 points in the paint before making back-to-back 3's to stretch their lead to 10 and taking that advantage into the second quarter after holding the Hawks to just four baskets on 28.6 percent from the field.
 
"I think that they came out really aggressive to start the game and they kind of put us back on our heels, and that really set the tone," said Hawks coach Jamie Seward. "That's tough when you dig yourself that deep of a hole. You give yourself such as razor thin margin as you go forward in the game. A couple of calls, a couple difficult shots that your opponent makes all of a sudden now becomes important. Whereas if we came out a little bit sharper, a little more aggressive, maybe some of those things don't matter as much."
 
SUNY New Paltz worked itself back in the second quarter. Amanda Skopetos — who led the Hawks with nine points and three rebounds in the first half — netted a 3 to start a 6-0 run. Marion Dietz's earned an and-1 on the following possession and then Dietz helped cut the score to just one after a nice find through a double team to Nicole Ziogas.
 
However, the Hawks couldn't gain the lead over the Knights, who ended up extending their cushion to six entering halftime. Again, they came out of the halftime break with the momentum and led by as many as 13 in the third quarter.
 
Then, early in the third period there was a miscommunication with a foul call. Instead of giving a loose ball foul to number 24, Skopetos, the referees instead handed number 34 Lindsay Bettke her fourth foul. Seward was adamant about switching the call, which the referees finally did during a timeout less than a minute remaining in the quarter. But in turn, Bettke sat for most of the third quarter due to the early foul trouble.
 
"You got to overcome that kind of stuff and I don't think we played that poorly during that time when Lindsay wasn't on the floor. But obviously, she is really good player and not having her out there hurt," Seward said. "We got into foul trouble with all of our guards and we didn't get into foul trouble all year. And again, you got to give to credit to Geneseo for putting us in that position where we kind of were on our heels and committed those fouls."
 
SUNY Geneseo took a 51-39 advantage into the fourth quarter and SUNY New Paltz continued to fight its way back to get within four with 44 seconds left after a made layup by Madison Van Pelt.
 
Lindsay Halper made a pair of free throws four seconds later to put the Knights ahead by six, and the Hawks missed their next three shots down the stretch, ending the rally just short.
 
"We worked our way back into the game. We had several times during the game where we started to get our feet underneath us and for whatever reason didn't execute the stuff that got us to that point of making that run," Seward said. "We gave away a couple easy baskets on second chance opportunities and baseline out of bounds plays. And again, when you fall behind like we did that margin is so razor thin that you can't have those missed opportunities on plays like that."
 
SUNY New Paltz caused 17 turnovers in the game, capitalizing with 13 points. However, the Hawks struggled from the floor and only made 34.3 percent of their shots and just 8-of-28 from 3-point range.
 
Rachel Simon led SUNY New Paltz with 13 points, three rebounds, two assists and four steals. Skopetos followed with 11 points, three rebounds and two steals and was named to the All-Tournament Team, while Dietz added 10 points five rebounds and four assists.
 
SUNY New Paltz, the two-time reigning SUNYAC champions, ends its 2017-18 campaign 17-10 overall, and short of expectations. However, it will return its entire roster next season.
 
"Our expectations is to win championships. Regardless how you fall short when you don't accomplish that we consider that a bad season. It doesn't take away from the fact that they were a wonderful team to coach and to be around every day," Seward said. "It's always tough when it ends. No matter where or when it ends, it is always too soon if you don't win the last game. That is obviously difficult, but just talking about I was really proud to be their coach."