Geneseo, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz was looking at a 13 point deficit with less than four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter Friday against rival SUNY Geneseo.
 
The Hawks had seen an 11-point first quarter lead dwindle and quickly turn into a double-figure deficit, but they never wavered in coming back to earn a win in a familiar opposing gym. Marion Dietz started a 13-point run that facilitated a comeback, 71-67 victory to keep SUNY New Paltz undefeated in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action.
 
"Kind of a typical New Paltz/Geneseo game," said Hawks coach Jamie Seward. "They played really well and had us on our heals for the majority of the game. Credit to our players for continuing to fight and continuing to believe. We told them we are going to need to string together something like six stops in seven possessions and we pretty much did that." After working their way out of a 13-point hole in the fourth quarter, SUNY New Paltz allowed its defense to carry its offense. The Hawks made just 9-of-39 attempts after the first quarter before their game-changing 13-point run down the stretch. Philesha Teape gave SUNY New Paltz life after attacking the offensive glass, grabbing a rebound and getting her bucket to go for the and-one following the foul called on the Knights' Kerrin Montgomery. Teape connected on the traditional three-point play and trimmed the deficit to seven with 2:22 to go.
 
Following a stop on the defensive end, Paige Niemeyer knocked down a shot to get SUNY New Paltz within five. Maddie Van Pelt then cut the game to just two after burying a 3-pointer from the corner with 1:16 left. Next time down the floor, Olivia Badura picked the pocket of Geneseo's Sara Ciotti to earn the steal around mid-court and finished on the other end in transition to tie the game  at 62 with less than a minute remaining.
 
The Knights went back ahead after earning three free trips to the foul line after Ciotti got fouled out on the perimeter with 28 seconds left. Ciotti made 1-of-2 push Geneseo up two with Seward calling a timeout to advance the ball and draw up a game-tying play.
 
SUNY New Paltz in-bounded and got the ball in the hands of freshman Lexi Van Vorst. Van Vorst finished on just 1-of-5 attempts in the game, but made her lone basket count. She got a step on her defender and drove through the line with about 20 seconds ticking down and put up a shot in the paint, which rolled through the net to tie the game at 64 with 18 ticks left.
 
"The one thing about Lexi Van Vorst is she isn't afraid," Seward said. "I knew I could put her in after not playing much in the second half and she wouldn't hesitate to make a play."
 
Badura swarmed Montgomery on the Knights' next possession with Dietz coming over in help to force a travel and give SUNY New Paltz one last chance to win in regulation. However, the Hawks never got the opportunity to get a shot off, as the Knights countered with tight defense of their own, not allowing any open looks for the Hawks' Maddie Gillis to in-bound. Without any timeouts left, SUNY New Paltz was forced to take a five second violation and then in turn gave Geneseo one last try to win in regulation.
 
Teape was on Ciotti as she received the ball on the ensuing possession and played tight, forcing a tough shot that careened off the side of the rim. Natalie Alfieri snatched the offensive board, but the put-back was after the buzzer sounded to force the game into overtime with the score tied at 64.
 
SUNY New Paltz allowed just one basket in extra time, which came in the opening minutes of the period with Halpin knocking down a long-ranged 3 to give her team the early lead. The Hawks forced six turnovers on the ensuing Geneseo offensive possessions and in turn, earned points on the offensive end from Van Pelt, Dietz and Teape. The Knights missed their last opportunity with 13 seconds left and Dietz picked up the defensive board. Geneseo fouled Dietz to stop the clock, but the senior calmly hit both attempts with less than a second to finalize the victory.
"Overall, our defense wasn't very good, but that's because they are such a difficult team to defend," Seward said. "They are so good on the perimeter and so physical in the paint, and they run their stuff all the way through the 30 seconds a lot of the time. There's no place to relax at all. But we did fluster them a bit late and in OT, took several key charges and forced a lot of turnovers in regulation and in overtime."
 
The Hawks jumped all over the Knights off the opening tip, earning four quick points within the first minute after back-to-back steals that led to transition buckets. Geneseo missed its first two shots and had four turnovers in the opening three minutes and SUNY New Paltz took advantage with an 11-0 advantage. But, the Knights came back to trim the double-figure lead. The Hawks cooled off in the last three minutes of the first period, which allowed Geneseo to chip away at the deficit and trail by just six at the end of the quarter.
 
The Knights took advantage of the momentum swing and after getting within one twice, finally took their first lead with about three minutes left in the half after Ciotti found Montgomery open underneath the basket to push the score 30-29 in favor of the home team.
 
Montgomery continued her explosive first half where she scored 18 of her 20 points, by answering with a baseline jumper to push the lead to four in the final minutes of the half. Lindsay Halpin followed with another score after winning the ball back as  time expired before the break to push Geneseo ahead, 39-32.
 
SUNY New Paltz never saw the lead again until overtime and entered the fourth down by eight. Van Pelt and Dietz helped the Hawks slowly edge back in, which resulted in a game changing fourth quarter stretch that turned the game around and ultimately ended with a Hawks overtime victory.
 
SUNY New Paltz handed Geneseo its first SUNYAC loss and just its second defeat of the season as it dropped to 11-2 overall and 4-1 in conference play. The Hawks, meanwhile, stayed perfect in the SUNYAC at 5-0 and improved to 10-2 on the season.
 
"Moving forward it's just one win, so hopefully they can enjoy it for two hours and be ready to get back at it tomorrow," Seward added. "After all, we are only five games into SUNYAC play so there is so much in front of us, and that's what we want to be thinking about is what's next."
 
Van Pelt led SUNY New Paltz with a career-high 23 points (9-for-23) to go along with five rebounds, while playing the full 45 minutes. Dietz followed with 18 points (7-for-11), four rebounds and three assists in 44 minutes, while Teape finished with 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
 
The Hawks have a short turn-around after an overtime game, taking on The College at Brockport Saturday for a 2 p.m. tip. 

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