The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team is set to get back on the floor Tuesday after 10 days off since its last contest. The Hawks (2-1 overall) will play their first game of the 2019-2020 season in the Hawk Center, hosting cross-river rival Vassar College.
 
The last time SUNY New Paltz played on its home floor was when it hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, following its fourth State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) championship. 
  Like the Hawks, the Brewers are coming off an NCAA Tournament run last season after getting an at-large big following a runner-up standing in their conference. Vassar lost to RIT in the Liberty League Championship in 2019, and its season then came to an end in the first round against SUNY Geneseo.
 
This season, Vassar has gotten out to a 3-1 start after claiming wins over Eastern University, Worcester State University and Springfield College, while suffering its only loss thus far against Williams College.
 
The team has averaged about 73 points per game, while conceding just 60 points against. The Brewers have shot around 42 percent, but their defense has led the way, holding the opposition to a dismal 36 percent from the field, including just 30 percent from behind the arc.
 
Senior forward Sophie Nick leads the team, averaging about 14 points and 12 rebounds per game, while adding nearly an assist per game. Senior guard Jackie Cenan follows offensively for Vassar, registering 11 points per game, along with about three rebounds and three assists a contest.
 
The Hawks and Brewers met up last year on the Brewers home court, with SUNY New Paltz earning a 92-81 victory after a dominating fourth quarter. The game had seven lead changes until the Hawks started gaining momentum toward back half of the third quarter and took a slight one-point advantage into the fourth that they never relinquished the rest of the way to claim the win.  
SUNY New Paltz owns the head-to-head matchup with Vassar, 12-7, but over the last six games each team has owned three wins over the other program.
 
Marion Dietz has paced the Hawks offense thus far. She has averaged 22 points per game, shooting 42 percent and is 74 points shy from claiming her 1,000th career-point to join just five other fellow Hawks.
 
Philesha Teape has had a career three-game stretch to open up her senior season, averaging a double-double with 14 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. She was also named to her first State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) weekly honor Nov. 18.
 
SUNY New Paltz is looking to bounce back from its first loss of the season against No. 2 nationally ranked Tufts University Nov.16, 69-53. The Hawks had previously defeated the Brewers' conference rivals RIT, in their season-opener 83-80 and then earned a 76-56 win over MIT in the first round of the Tufts Tournament Tip-Off. However, to the loss the Jumbos knocked the previously No. 23 ranked Hawks out of the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) top-25. SUNY New Paltz will undoubtedly want to have another convincing performance against a strong program like Vassar Tuesday to get back into the top-25 national standings.
 
The Hawks and Brewers are set to tip-off at 7 p.m. in the Hawk Center. To follow along with live stats, and live stream, click here.

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