Box Score New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team withstood a late rally by visiting SUNY Cortland (5-8 overall, 1-6 SUNYAC) to clinch a 67-63 win in the Hawk Center Tuesday night.
 
"It was a win. I'm not going to give it back. We tried to, but we ultimately made a couple plays that kept us up and finish it," said Hawks coach Jamie Seward. "But we did everything we could there in the third and late in the fourth to give them an opportunity to feel like they were back in the game and then they got back in the game. We were very fortunate to get out of here with a win. Credit to them for continuing to fight down by 15, 18, whatever it was. We certainly have to finish games when we have the opportunity to. It is really disappointing because that was exactly what we talked about Monday morning. We need to lock in and focus and not have any of these side steps whether it was in practice or a game and we had one yesterday afternoon at practice and we had another one in the second half of the game today. So, a lot of things that need to be cleaned up and addressed moving forward." 
 
SUNY New Paltz (10-4, 6-1) had control for most of the game, coming out with an early seven-point lead, which turned into a double-digit advantage midway through the second quarter.
 
Lindsay Bettke and Rachel Simon combined for 27 of the Hawks' 31 first-half points with Simon's aggressive play defensively helping to lead the way, as the senior had a team-high three charges called, which contributed to the Red Dragons' 10 first-half turnovers.

"Charges are a big thing for New Paltz basketball. That is one thing that we really pride ourselves on, stepping in and taking a charge," Simon said. We still got to work on moving our feet a little bit. A lot of times we just go out stand and hope the girl is going to hit us. I know I have to work on that myself, being quick enough to move my feet, getting to the spot and beating her there, but charges are a big part of our team so I was glad I could get a few for us today."
 
The Hawks went into the second half with a 31-21 lead and extended their advantage to as many as 17 midway through the third quarter followed by five-straight points by Bettke.
 
SUNY Cortland started inching its way back toward the end of the third, but back-to-back buckets in the paint by Kei-Kei Glover helped keep the Hawks' cushion at 10 heading into the fourth quarter.
 
"I think it was at the end of the third quarter where the momentum shifted," Seward said. We made some substitutions and we came in very, I don't know, just lethargic… Once they felt like they got it going then we allowed their 3-point shooters too many good looks and allowed some of their other players to do things that they like to do, and that is what they do best. We allowed them to do what they do best and very close to getting beat by them doing what they do best, as opposed to making them do things that they aren't as good at. "
 
Tanna Mohammed knocked down a 3 for the Red Dragons with about six minutes left to get her team within five, but Simon answered with a step back-3 to get SUNY New Paltz back on top by eight. Mohammed responded on the ensuing possession with another 3, with Shana Crespo adding a free throw to cut the score, 57-53 with four minutes left.
 
Simon got another layup to go and was backed up by a steal and an easy fast break bucket by Madison Van Pelt to extend the lead to 61-53 for the Hawks with 2:40 to play. But. foul trouble plagued the Hawks down the stretch. Van Pelt and Simon were each playing with four fouls in the final two minutes and the Red Dragons took advantage. They made 4-of-5 from the charity stripe in the last two minutes, but Justine Crespo couldn't connect on the backend of an and-one with 50 seconds remaining, pulling the score to 63-61 in favor of SUNY New Paltz.
 
With the Hawks holding possession, SUNY Cortland was forced to intentionally foul to stop the clock. They had two fouls to give, and after fouling Bettke to give SUNY New Paltz possession on the sideline, Simon came in clutch, unconventionally, with a timely basket.
 
Coming off a screen, Simon rolled her ankle and fell to floor. She quickly got up, made a back cut toward the basket where she was spotted by Paige Niemeyer who dished a pass to Simon, assisting on the bucket. Simon not only got her shot to go, but also earned the foul as well. She made the extra free throw to extend the cushion back to five with nine seconds to play.
 
"That last play, I was just trying to get Lindsay open, get her the ball and maybe they'd foul her, but I tripped and twisted my ankle or whatever, but you know you just got to play through it," Simon said. "So I got up, made a quick cut and we got the basket. I'll take it, but that fall wasn't planned, no."
 
Bettke was fouled following a missed shot on the ensuing possession for the Red Dragons and made both to officially ice the win.
 
"We were trying to get the ball to Lindsay or Rachel and have them foul us… but I guess she had a little something else in mind with her maneuver there. Again, we were very lucky and that was apart of that," Seward said. "We needed a couple breaks and to finish that game and that was one of the big ones. But if that is something that you're going to rely on it is only a matter of time before you're not going to catch that break and you're going to lose a game like that."

After struggling with her stroke at home to start the season, Simon had her best offensive outings of the season, finishing with a team-high 26 points after shooting a productive 9-for-16 from the field, including 4-of-10 from behind the arc.
 
"Definitely struggling from behind the arc is tough for a shooter, any shooter knows that, but you just have to throw them up," Simon said. "You got to have short-term memory. My teammates, I owe it all to them and coach, just telling me to keep throwing them up. Yeah I've been struggling, but I am going to keep doing my job. I'm out there to shoot and to score and help my teammates. They're definitely the reason behind that and me getting back on track here." 
 
Bettke followed close behind with 25 points on 10-for-21 shooting from the field, including 4-for-8 from 3. She also added four rebounds, two assists and a steal on the night. Van Pelt chipped in with four rebounds, four assists and six points.
 
"That is what they are supposed to do. They're good players, they're good scorers and we need them to score," Seward said. "It certainly isn't good when you get 51 of 67 by two players. We got nothing out of the bench. I think their bench out-scored us, 30-4, and if you look at plus-minuses on the bench, we have a lot of minuses in limited minutes. We had a lot turnovers in limited minutes and we had a lot of fouls in limited minutes. Those are all things that are controllable and we did not control them as well as we need to moving forward."
  
The Hawks are back in action Friday and Saturday when they hit the road to take on Fredonia State and Buffalo State, respectively.

To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks,Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.