Buffalo, NY- Scoring its most points of the season, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team routed Buffalo State 98-73 to end the weekend with two State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) wins Saturday.

The Hawks move to 12-4 on the year and 8-1 in the conference. Out-shooting the Bengals 52.2 percent to 37.3 percent, SUNY New Paltz also went 56.7 percent from behind the 3-point line and had its bench out score Buffalo State 32-16 to move the Hawks win streak to eight games.

"Buff State likes to play fast on offense and pressure full court, so we figured it would be a high scoring game," said SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward. "To be honest we wanted to attack the basket and the paint more, but we really got hot from three in the second half and kind of just rode it out."

Feeling each other out to start the first quarter, a 3-pointer by senior guard Lindsay Bettke and a jumper by junior forward Paige Niemeyer pushed the Hawks ahead early, 10-5. With the Bengals close behind at 15-13 with three minutes remaining, senior guard Rachel SImon put up a 3-pointer of her own to establish SUNY New Paltz's five-point lead again.

Buffalo State came back with less than a minute left in the quarter to get behind just one point at 20-19. However, a foul and a missed opportunity by the Bengals allowed Niemeyer to capitalize at the line with two free throws. A layup by Bettke then put the Hawks up by five again at the end of the quarter, 24-19.

With no scoring in the first two minutes of the second quarter, a 3-pointer by Simon got SUNY New Paltz's offense going again with the Hawks biggest lead of the game. When Buffalo State answered with two 3's of its own to come within two at 27-25, Bettke came back with a layup and trey ball to put the Hawks up by seven with three minutes remaining in the half. SUNY New Paltz held an 11-point lead going into halftime, capping off the quarter with an 8-2 run filled with a three by Simon, a jumper by Bettke and another 3-pointer by junior guard Marion Dietz.

The Bengals stayed within the game four minutes into the third quarter, only down by eight at 50-42. Simon stayed hot in the second half however, draining a three ball to move the Hawks lead to double digits again, and start an 11-0 run to go ahead 61-42 with less than two minutes remaining in the third. SUNY New Paltz cruised to the end of the quarter, heading into the fourth with a 15-point advantage at 68-53.

The Hawks continued to shine offensively in the fourth quarter, as Simon, Dietz and Niemeyer all hit 3-pointers in the first two minutes to give SUNY New Paltz a comfortable 24-point advantage up 77-53. When Buffalo State broke the Hawks 20-point advantage halfway through the quarter at 86-68, SUNY New Paltz came right back with a 3-pointer by senior guard Taylor Howell to keep the cushion. Five unanswered points by the Hawks to end the game gave them their most impressive offensive performance of the season, and the win, 98-73.

"The deeper you get into the season, the harder it is to improve because it's all about the little details now," Seward said. "We need to stay totally locked in on what's important right now, and be locked in on every play, every drill, every rep."

SUNY New Paltz will return to action Jan. 26 on the road against SUNY Oneonta. 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.