After splitting two games in Nashville, TN at the Music City Classic, the State University of New York at New Paltz is back in the Hawk Center to keep its perfect home record alive when it faces Alfred University Tuesday.

The Hawks (6-2 overall, 2-0 SUNYAC) had two weeks off before traveling down to Tennessee to face Simpson College (IA) and Rose-Hulman (IN) Dec. 29 and 30, respectively. SUNY New Paltz struggled in its first game, unable to handle the Storm's high-pressure defense and sharp shooting from the perimeter and suffered just their second loss of the season. They bounced back with a solid effort against the Fightin' Engineers, allowing their defense to carry them to a 54-40 victory.
The last time SUNY New Paltz played in the Hawk Center it dominated two conference opponents, SUNY Potsdam and Plattsburgh State (Dec. 6 and 7, respectively), to open up State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play. The Hawks won both games by 30-plus points after forcing 54 turnovers combined on the weekend. They hope to continue their tenacious play defensively when they host the Saxons, who are coming off an 80-52 loss against Western Connecticut State after earning a win against Elms College in the opening round of the Hat City Tournament.

The Hawks will see a familiar face on the opposite bench, as the Saxons are led by second-year coach Mike Moskowitz, a former assistant on the SUNY New Paltz staff for three seasons from 2015-2018.

Although SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward has faced a few former players turned coaches during his 14-year tenure, Tuesday's game will be a first against a former assistant and he is excited to take on his former pupil. Seward knew immediately Moskowitz will quickly become a head coach in his own right, as he was a pivotal part during a successful stretch for the Hawks that saw two SUNYAC Championships and a Sweet 16 appearance.

"I saw it very early on. He was just very enthusiastic, very hard working and very intelligent, and that is a pretty good combination of qualities and characteristics to possess," Seward said. "You knew he was going to be able to go in, and he really prides himself of building relationships so you could just see he had all the tools necessary to be successful in really anything. As a head coach it was just a matter of when and somebody willing to give him an opportunity. They were smart enough to see that at Alfred and they've been paid off already for that. I think there are a lot of great things to come in that program and the school."

Alfred has improved immensely in its second year under Moskowitz. He took over a Saxons program that went 2-23 the year before, and guided them to an 8-17 finish during the 2018-19 season. The team improved in scoring margin, shooting percentage, rebounds per game and turnover differential. This season, the team is already halfway to their 2018-19 total after starting the year 4-6. They've earned wins over Medaille, Keuka College, SUNY Delhi and the Blazers, while winning three of their last five games.

"… I remember talking to him the day that he got back from the interview and he was just so excited," Seward said. "I think he has already shown that he is going to turn that program around and I think he already turned it around, just a matter of taking it further down that path. He was a tremendous asset to our program while he was here, won a couple conference championships that wouldn't have happened without him. I think that it's not surprising at all that he is able to have the success that he's had already and quadrupled the amount of wins from the season prior to [him] arriving is pretty impressive."
The Saxons have already played two SUNYAC opponents heading into their matchup with the Hawks, as they fell to The College at Brockport and SUNY Geneseo. They struggled to get their offense going in the first half against the Golden Eagles, and ultimately suffered a 68-47 loss in early November. They then traveled to the Knights Dec. 3 and suffered a 68-51 loss, but held a tight game through two-plus quarters. Alfred was just five points behind early in the third, but Geneseo stretched its lead down the stretch to secure a double-digit win.

"They just had a kid who scored her 1,000th point recently and their other guard is a kid who we recruited who is a very talented player. And yeah, they're going to be a handful in their league as the season progresses," Seward said. "If you look at their results, they've definitely gotten better and played better in more recent games. They got off to a little tough start. I think they were 1-3 and very easily could have been 3-1. Since then I think they have won three of their last [five] or something like that, so I think they're trending in the right direction. I think they are a team that will seriously compete to make their conference tournament and wouldn't at all be surprised if they did and made a real run in that tournament once they get there."

Through its first 10 games, Alfred has averaged just more than 61 points per game, while shooting 34.6 percent from the field. Defensively the Saxons have yielded about 65 points a contest, but has kept their opposition to just 38.2 percent from the field.

Freshman guard Ana Ion and junior guard Gillian Flint lead the Saxons offensively, averaging 11.6 and 11.1 points per game, respectively. Flint has been the catalyst, however, grabbling nearly seven rebounds per game and leading the team in assists (23) and steals (27). Senior guard Jamie Wilcox is the team's best rebounder, averaging nearly eight a game, while adding 19 assist and 16 steals with five blocks. Offensively, she has averaged about nine points per game, while shooting nearly 27 percent from the field.

"They have four or five kids that any given day can go in and knock down four or five 3's, so they present a lot of challenges," Seward added. "They are very sound in their schemes defensively. They run some good stuff offensively and they have a post player who can really score with her back to the basket, and then they surround her with a bunch of kids who can shoot the ball."

Senior forward Maddie Van Pelt led SUNY New Paltz offensively in its last two games at the Music City Classic, putting up a combined 29 points and adding 15 rebounds and six steals. Van Pelt not only totaled team-high points in both contests, but also set a new career-high after she pulled down 13 rebounds in a win over Rose-Hulman to register her second career double-double performance. However, on the season Marion Dietz leads the way offensively, as she has averaged a team-best 16.6 points per game, while shooting 37.4 percent from the field. The senior is just seven points shy of reaching 1,000 career points and will become just the sixth Hawk to reach that mark.

SUNY New Paltz is set to face Alfred University Tuesday in the Hawk Center for a 4 p.m. tip-off.

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