Riding a six-game winning streak heading into the weekend, the State University of New York at New Paltz has the opportunity to tighten its grasp on the top seed in the conference tournament with just three weeks to go in the regular season.

Two road games against Fredonia State and Buffalo State lead into a huge matchup Tuesday against SUNY Cortland for the Hawks. They defeated both the Blue Devils and Bengals the first time around, but didn't have their best performance in either outings. Series sweeps over the two programs this weekend sets the table for a head-to-head matchup between SUNY New Paltz and the Red Dragons, who is the only State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) team to hand the defending champs a loss thus far. But, as senior guard Marion Dietz pointed out, the Hawks aren't looking ahead, and aren't worried about anyone besides themselves and what they need to do on the court.

"Going into this weekend we just have to focus on what we do and what we have to do every day to get better," said Dietz. "Not so much on what everyone else is doing. So, if we just focus on ourselves it will lead us the rest of the way."
 
SUNY New Paltz will face Fredonia first for a Friday night matchup. The Blue Devils (9-13 overall, 5-10 SUNYAC) are fighting to earn a spot in the conference tournament, as they sit seventh in the standings heading into the game. They have gone 3-2 in their last five contests, but most recently took a 67-58 loss against The College at Brockport Tuesday.

The Hawks jumped out to a 33-19 halftime lead against Fredonia back on Jan. 25 in the Hawk Center, but a severe third quarter shooting slump by the hosts — missing all 13 3-point attempts in the period — allowed the Blue Devils to stick around late. As it has for most of the year, SUNY New Paltz was carried by its defense, which forced 24 turnovers in the game and kept the Blue Devils to 32 percent from the field. Fredonia got as close as four with about six minutes remaining, but the Hawks answered with an 11-2 run to end the game and secured a 13-point win.

Fredonia is among the bottom of the conference in points per game, as sophomore guard/forward Katie Pitcher is the only player averaging double-figure points for the team. Along with a team-high 11.4 points per game, shooting about 39 percent from the floor, Pitcher averages a team-best 6.5 rebounds a contest and 17 blocks on the year. Senior guard Anna Chiacchia follows with 9.8 points and five rebounds per game, while also adding 17 blocks this season. Junior guard Rae White is the Blue Devils' best perimeter shooter, making about 36 percent from behind the arc and 32 percent from the field.
"When we played them both [teams] here we won and we learned that we're capable of playing defense," Dietz said. "We had a lot of moments there where we let up and since then we learned that we can play 40 minutes of defense and be locked in the whole time. That's really important going into this weekend as well."

Following its re-match with the Blue Devils, SUNY New Paltz faces the 14-8 Bengals, who are 10-5 in SUNYAC play and has already clinched a spot in the SUNYAC Tournament. They currently are fourth in the league standings behind the Hawks, Cortland and SUNY Geneseo, most recently losing to the Knights Tuesday, 71-56.

Starting forward Jenna Lee had her way inside when the two teams played in the Hawk Center Jan. 24. She scored 16 points in 19 minutes, but faced early foul trouble and had to sit for the latter part of the first half. She helped her team get within four to start the third quarter, as Buffalo State took advantage of six consecutive turnovers by SUNY New Paltz. Philesha Teape ended the unanswered drought for the Hawks and instigated a 10-1 run to help cushion the lead to 10 heading into the fourth. The hosts hung on from there, as the Bengals fought through a double-digit deficit to get within four with 12 seconds left, but the Hawks connected at the foul line to ice the win.

"Buff State beat Cortland and they're a team that has two really good players and a bunch of really good players around them," Dietz said. "I'm expecting them to come in with a lot of energy and come at us, just like they did against Cortland and Geneseo… We just have to stay focused against them as well."

Lee scored a season-high against the Hawks, but on the year is averaging less than seven points and four rebounds per game. Senior guard Liv LaBaron registered just 10 points with eight rebounds in 38 minutes in the loss, but on the season has averaged a SUNYAC-leading 22.4 points per game, along with more than nine rebounds a contest, while shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from 3-point range. She most recently earned SUNYAC Athlete of the Week honors for the second-straight week after averaging 19 points, 10 rebounds and three assists in two wins over Plattsburgh and Potsdam, and a loss against Geneseo.

Junior guard Katie Villarini follows LaBaron offensively, averaging 15.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. As a team, Buffalo State nets 66 points an outing – the same as the Hawks – while conceding 64 points against per game. Although SUNY New Paltz hasn't shot well this season, averaging 35.3 percent from the floor and 26.2 percent from 3-point range, it has arguably the best defense in the conference. The Hawks are tied for second-least in points allowed (53.4), trailing just the Knights (53), while keeping their opposition to 36.4 percent shooting from the field and 25.8 percent from the perimeter. They have forced a league-leading 507 turnovers this season, with opponents averaging more than 25 per game and have also recorded 233 steals on the year — also the best in the SUNYAC — registering nearly 12 a contest.

"Phil mentioned it last week that this program is built on toughness and that competition of not wanting to give up. She couldn't have phrased it any better. That is defense," Dietz said. "Defense is toughness, and that is what we really build our program on. Phil just said it great last weekend."

SUNY New Paltz is set to face the Blue Devils Friday at Dods Hall for a 5:30 p.m. tip, and then will take on the Bengals Saturday at 2 p.m. in Sports Arena.

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