New Paltz, NY – After a historic year, which saw the most wins in program history, its fourth State University of New York Athletic Conference Championship and its second trip to the NCAA Sweet 16 in the last three years, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team is looking to further that success in 2020.

The Hawks sights are set on another conference championship and to finally get past the third round of the national tournament en route to the programs first NCAA Championship. Along with their usual SUNYAC schedule, SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward made sure to add some tough non-conference match ups against perennial top-25 programs including Rochester Institute of Technology and Tufts University, with the latter winning a highly-touted New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) title, while narrowly earning a bid into the Final Four.

Additionally, six of the Hawks' seven non-conference opponents won 20-plus games a season ago with five earning a spot in the regional rankings and four playing in last year's national tournament.

SUNY New Paltz will first open up the season against RIT Nov. 9 on the road. The Hawks lost last season's match up against the Tigers in a tough overtime game in the Hawk Center. They then travel to Medford, Massachusetts to compete in the Tufts Tournament and play the hosting Jumbos and MIT Nov. 16 and Nov. 15, respectively.

After making its Hawks Center debut against Liberty League's Vassar College Nov. 26, SUNY New Paltz heads into conference play at home against SUNY Potsdam and Plattsburgh State. They then close out 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee, taking on two solid teams in Simpson College (Iowa) and Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Indiana). The Storm finished last season 20-7, making a run into the American Rivers Conference semifinals, while the Fightin' Engineers also concluded 2019 at 20-7 overall, falling in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Championship team to then No. 20 Transylvania by just two points. The Pioneers season ultimately ended in the Sweet 16 against National Champions Thomas Moore.

The Hawks are back in the Hawk Center Jan. 7 to face Alfred University, which is coached by former SUNY New Paltz women's basketball assistant coach Mike Moskowitz.

SUNY New Paltz then finish out the regular season with 16-straight conference games. SUNY Oneonta was the only SUNYAC opponent to beat the Hawks during the regular season last year. SUNY New Paltz is set to face the Red Dragons on the road Jan. 11 and again at home Feb. 1.

Another highly anticipated conference match up will be against SUNY Geneseo, which the Hawks defeated in the SUNYAC Championship game last season, along with two of the previous three years in the conference tournament. The Hawks and Knights are set to tip-off in Geneseo Jan. 17 and will conclude the home-and-home Feb. 7 in the Hawk Center.

The 2020 SUNYAC Tournament is slated to begin Feb. 25 at the third and fourth seeds, respectively. The top overall seed will host the semifinals and championship games, which is scheduled for Feb. 28 and 29, respectively.

The first round of the NCAA Tournament is scheduled for March 6 with the second round set for the next day on March 7.

To view the full women's basketball 2019-2020 schedule, click here.

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