Box Score New Paltz, NY – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team earned its 17 th-straight victory Saturday, while setting a new program record by ending the regular season with a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) record of 17-1 – the best in team history – following a 84-71 victory in its regular season finale against Plattsburgh State Saturday.

The game also played as the Hawks' senior day, as they honored a decorated senior class of Rachel Simon, Taylor Howell and Lindsay Bettke, who fittingly, were the catalysts in the win.

Howell, getting her seventh start of the season, opened up the game with eight-straight points, while knocking down three of her first four shots to help SUNY New Paltz (21-4 overall, 17-1 SUNYAC) get out to a quick double-digit advantage early in the first quarter. 

"Coming into this game I knew they were going to put a lot of emphasis on Lindsay and Rachel, and rightfully so," said Howell. "So I knew that I was going to have a lot of open looks, and so I had them and I just took them. It was what it was. I had my teammates cheering me on in the back, so that gave me a lot of confidence to keep going."

The Cardinals (10-14, 7-10) worked their way back in the second quarter, as they had the advantage on the glass and forced SUNY New Paltz in uncharacteristic turnovers to help cut the score, 33-25 with about four minutes remaining in the half.

Taylor Durnin then started getting the hot hand for Plattsburgh State, as the junior finished the half with 16 points on 50 percent shooting.

However, Bettke was just as hot for the Hawks. The senior out of Pelham, NY knocked down 6-of-8 in the first half and scored 15 of her 17 points in the first half, which helped SUNY New Paltz keep a steady cushion at the break, up 43-36.

The Cardinals held a 21-17 advantage on the glass in the first 20 minutes with the Hawks committing nine turnovers in the first two quarters, which matched or exceeded seven game totals this year. SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward emphasized both aspects at halftime.

"We definitely mentioned the rebounding. It's not like Plattsburgh is a big team or really good rebounding team. They just out-played us, out-scrapped us and out-hustled us," he said. "I was pretty upset at halftime. I didn't think we had a great effort. I didn't think we had a great focus and really similar to yesterday. [We] take control of the game, never really give that control away, but never actually putting the game away either. So yeah, hopefully it was just a matter of a team playing desperate with a chance of making the conference tournament on the line, and us not having as much of a tangible thing to play for. Our focus waned, but it definitely waned the last two days and we're going to have to adjust that moving forward."

The Hawks reestablished a double-digit lead in the third quarter, despite making only 6-for-20 from the field in the period. Simon, Marion Dietz and Howell drained three-straight from outside the arc to build SUNY New Paltz a 16-point advantage with less than two minutes to go in the quarter. Bella DePasquale and Durin answered with three points for Plattsburgh State to end the third and cut into the score, 61-48, heading into the final 10 minutes.

"As far as defensively, we didn't do what we planned to do," Howell said. "We didn't execute our game plan. We know who the personnel is, but we just didn't go out and actually guard them the way we should have, so that was why it was such a tight game. But I do feel like we have the capability to play better defense and we will [moving] on now."

However, SUNY New Paltz proved too much for the Cardinals. The Hawks never relinquished their double-digit cushion in the fourth quarter and held on to collect the win and set a new program record.

"To finish the regular season with such a great victory is a great feeling," Howell said. "I know all my girls had my back out there the same way I have there's, so it felt really good to have them cheering me on and I am able to do the same. As far as finishing the regular season this way, it is a great feeling. It's the best we've done since I have been here, but it's not over."

Howell, Bettke and Simon combined for 48 of SUNY New Paltz's final 84 points, as all finished in double-figures. Howell registered a team-high 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting from the floor, with two rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes. Bettke also added a team-high 17 points on 6-for-13 shooting from the field to go along with three rebounds, five assists and two steals, while Simon recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

"It's nice that something like that works out on a day that it worked out on," said Seward. "Especially Taylor to come out and get us out to that start, and then Lindsay had a huge first half. Rachel struggled a little bit, but she hit some shots in the second half. It's nice, obviously you want to win the game first and foremost, but it is nice to have your seniors on the day they're being recognized, on their last regular season home game, to be able to go off and play well."

Durnin led Plattsburgh State with a game-high 23 points on 9-for-18 shooting from the field in 36 minutes, while Ly'rell Walker (17) and DePasquale (15) also finished with double-digits.

"[Durnin] is a good offensive player… She can score in a lot of different ways. She can shoot from the perimeter. She can get to the basket and score around the rim," Seward said. "I thought Marion got off to a good start guarding her and then she came out of the game and I honestly am not sure who was guarding her, but they obviously didn't do a very good job. She got a couple and then got going. I actually said to Marion, 'OK, you've got to go put out the fire now,' and it's very difficult to do when you have a scorer like that and you get her going, and you allow her to garner some confidence like that, and then to just go and try to stop her, doesn't work that way. We need to have a better focus one through 11 and not just rely on one person to be our lockdown defender."

SUNY New Paltz had already locked down the No. 1 seed and home court advantage throughout the SUNYAC playoffs, and now will go into the postseason with 17-straight wins. Although the streak and conference total was a nice accomplishment, the Hawks have their eyes set on their third SUNYAC championship in four years and then hone in on an NCAA title run.

"It does mean a lot. Thinking back it's going to be like, 'wow, it is going to be an amazing season,' but it doesn't mean much if we don't win SUNYAC's, if we don't go far in NCAA's the way that we planned," Howell said. "If we hit our goals and we hit what we want to do then I'll feel accomplished. Then I will look back and be like, 'that was great.' But I don't want that just to be my last memories of my last season. I want it to be with a championship and we had that streak, we had everything else."

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