Box Score

Fredonia, NY- The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team came out firing in the first quarter against Fredonia State, but it was for more than just gaining an early lead against the Blue Devils. In the first minute of the second quarter, senior guard Lindsay Bettke scored her 1000th point, capping a mark in her already illustrious career.

 

"I remember her freshman year, she had yet to crack the playing rotation, and former assistant and alum Shanay Bradley and I were putting her through an individual workout," said Hawks coach Jamie Seward. "I said to Shanay, 'this kid is going to score a lot of points here.' I'm glad I got that one right."

 

SUNY New Paltz cruised by Fredonia State (7-7 overall, 4-3 SUNYAC), beating the Blue Devils 82-60 to move to 11-4 on the year overall, and 7-1 in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC). The Hawks will continue conference action Saturday on the road against Buffalo State (8-6 overall, 2-5 SUNYAC).

 

Scoring in bunches early against Fredonia State, two 3-pointers by senior guard Rachel Simon, one by Bettke and another by sophomore guard Nicole Ziogas allowed SUNY New Paltz to take a strong lead at 22-16. Seven unanswered points allowed the Blue Devils to stay within single digits to finish the quarter, but with Bettke finishing with nine points, the Hawks were ready to continue their offense into the second.

 

After Bettke scored her 12th point to reach 1,000 30 seconds in, SUNY New Paltz gained a double-digit lead again three minutes in after a Ziogas bucket put the Hawks up 29-18. A 10-2 run by SUNY New Paltz allowed the Hawks to coast towards halftime, as Bettke's jumper with eight seconds left put them up, 43-25.

 

With SUNY New Paltz continuing to score furiously into the third, the Hawks finally reached the 20-point lead mark halfway through the quarter off a Simon layup to put them up, 52-32. Four points by Fredonia State within the last minute kept them within 20 at 61-41, but a jumper by junior guard Marion Dietz finished the quarter with SUNY New Paltz up 63-41.

 

The Hawks continued to push the envelope in the fourth quarter, as two 3-pointers by senior guard Taylor Howell put them ahead, 73-48. With the Blue Devils making a short effort to come back into the game, SUNY New Paltz cruised towards the finish line, beating Fredonia State, 82-60.

 

"Their starting point guard was out and they are a lot bigger than us, so we knew we had to take advantage of the fact that we were the faster team," Seward said. "We thought that our speed advantage would eventually get to them, but because we came out shooting well from behind the arc we opened it up a bit sooner than expected.

 

The Hawks will return to action Saturday at 12 p.m. against Buffalo State.  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.