The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team is not only looking to extend its current six-game winning streak, but play more consistent basketball heading into the weekend against Fredonia State and Buffalo State.

The Hawks (10-4 overall, 6-1 SUNYAC) earned a win Tuesday in their most recent outing against a SUNY Cortland team that fell toward the bottom of the standings, but did not have the best performance throughout the 40 minutes and allowed the Red Dragons to come back and threaten the win.

Going up by as many as 17 midway through the second half, SUNY Cortland cut the score to a one possession game in the remaining seconds. But seniors Lindsay Bettke and Rachel Simon, who each had one of their most prolific scoring games in the Hawk Center this year, came in clutch to help seal the win. 

"We had a couple wins on the weekend and that was good for us, but we struggled and got lucky in the game on Tuesday I think," said Hawks senior guard Lindsay Bettke. "We let a team back in that shouldn't have been in the game with us. So practicing today, we just talked about how we got to stay locked in and we got to have effort on every single play and everything we do, because that's how we're going to beat teams is to have continuous momentum and flow of energy."

SUNY New Paltz is looking to get more production from the rest of its roster against a much-improved Blue Devils (7-6, 4-2) and Bengals (8-4, 2-4) team. Both programs are in the mix to make the SUNYAC tournament with Buffalo State a game behind The College at Brockport and Fredonia State currently in fourth behind the Hawks.

The Bengals clinched a playoff spot last year, but was eliminated in the semifinals by SUNY Oneonta. The Bengals brought back their leading scorer in junior Liz LeBaron, who has had a career-year thus far, averaging 21.4 points on 47 percent shooting from the field, while adding 8.7 rebounds, 3.7 assists and three steals per game.

"I think Buff State is a lot different team than they have been in the past, but they have one key player that scores a lot of points every single game," Bettke said. "I think the key to that will be contesting shots with her and just containing her."

As a team, Buffalo State totals about 75 points a contest, while allowing 67 points against. Along with LeBaron, Princella McCullough and Katie Vallarini has helped offensively by averaging 13.3 points, 11.6 rebounds and 12.4 points, three assists, respectively, per game.
Fredonia State, after missing out on the postseason last year, is the break-out team of the season, as it sits just a game behind SUNY New Paltz for fourth in the conference standings.

Under first-year head coach Sarah Cartmill, the Blue Devils are playing tight defense that has limited opponents to just 62 points per game and in conference allowed less than 47 points against.

Senior forward Jenna Einink leads the way offensively, averaging 13 points and 8.4 rebounds per game, followed by senior guard Sarah Sweazy, who has totaled about 10 points and four boards a contest.

Their two State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) losses came back-to-back at home against SUNY Geneseo and on the road at Plattsburgh State, but Fredonia has collected victories over Buffalo State, SUNY Cortland, Oswego State and SUNY Potsdam thus far.

"With Fredonia, I know they have a couple big kids who can really shoot the 3 surprisingly, so we just got to keep track of those players and contain them," Bettke said. "If we restrict their shot attempts, I think we'll have the game."

For Bettke, this upcoming weekend could potentially be monumental in her collegiate career, as she is just 12 points shy of reaching the 1,000-career point milestone mark. Once eclipsed, she will enter an elite club of only four other members who have reached that threshold, solidifying her place as one of the best to ever suit up for the Hawks.

Although getting the win is first on the agenda, she is looking forward to finally reaching that coveted milestone.

"It's just going to be a really special moment, because for four years now I have put all my effort — blood, sweat, tears, whatever you want to call it — into this program and it would just be really rewarding I feel like," Bettke said.

Due to the pending snowstorm the Hawks will play both games earlier than originally scheduled, as they will face Fredonia State Friday at 4 p.m. and then take on Buffalo State Saturday at noon.

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