Buffalo, NY — Besides a three-minute stretch in the first quarter Saturday at Sports Arena, the State University of New York at New Paltz controlled the momentum of the game virtually from start to finish against hosting Buffalo State Saturday and in turn, earned a 79-57 win and series sweep over the Bengals.
 
"We got off to a quick start and they had some kids make some shots we were willing to give up," said SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward. "We also didn't finish some easy ones and made a couple of mistakes on defense during that stretch and they quickly took the lead back... We need to tighten some things up, especially on the glass, but I was pleased that we executed the game plan on both ends of the court for the most part."
 
The Hawks (18-3 overall, 13-1 SUNYAC) jumped out to a 13-2 advantage to begin the first quarter, but Buffalo State (14-10, 10-7) answered with a 12-0 run after taking advantage of six-straight misses from the visitors. Liv LaBaron capped off the stretch with a basket in the paint to put the Bengals ahead for the first time in the game at 14-13 with 1:05 left in the period.
 
Maddie Van Pelt ended the scoreless streak for SUNY New Paltz with two made shots from the charity stripe, giving her team back the lead at 15-14 with less than a minute remaining. Buffalo State re-took the advantage, entering the second, however, as Lexi Emmi connected on her attempt from the field to push her team to a one-point advantage at the end of the first quarter.
 
After trading baskets to open up the second, the Hawks scored seven unanswered in the following three minutes with Marion Dietz capping off the run to push the Hawks ahead, 25-18. Back-to-back buckets in the paint by Van Pelt helped extend the cushion to 31-24 after the Bengals worked their way back to five. Cassidy Deaver followed with a pair of made free throws for SUNY New Paltz before the Emmi answered with a jumper, but Olivia Badura earned the last points of the period, banking a runner in the lane to give SUNY New Paltz the lead, 35-26 at the half.   
The third quarter was all Hawks, as they shot nearly 77 percent in the period and out-scored the Bengals 35-17 after making 7-of-8 from 3-point range. Dietz was the catalyst in that regard, swishing 3-for-3 from the perimeter to score 13 of her game-high 18 points in the quarter alone.
 
"A more focused second quarter got us the lead back going into the half, and then we shot the lights out from behind the arc in the third to open it up," Seward said. "Marion looked like she was getting back to her normal self all week in practice, and it was nice to see it carry over this weekend in games."
 
Badura officially gave SUNY New Paltz a 20 point cushion following two made free throws and Dietz added on a play later with another made shot from behind the arc. SUNY New Paltz carried that momentum to the end of the quarter where they stretched their advantage to 70-43, which all but put the game away. 
 
Dietz had her largest scoring out-put in 10 games after shooting 6-of-13 from the field, while adding five rebounds and an assist. She and Deaver also put in work on the defensive end, keeping the Bengals leading scorers of LaBaron and Katie Villarini to a combined 12 points on 5-for-18 shooting. On the season, the duo has averaged 22.4 and 15.2 points per game, respectively.
 
"We did a nice job of making it difficult on their two big guns most of the game, which is not only a credit to Marion and Cass who defended them most of the game, but also everyone else who helped and showed them multiple bodies when they got the ball," Seward said.
 
Badura followed Dietz offensively with 17 points, five assists and two steals. Van Pelt added 13 points, three rebounds and three steals, while Teape followed with 10 points and 12 rebounds to notch her second-straight double-double and seventh of the year. Deaver and Paige Niemeyer each helped out with nine points apiece, with Deaver adding five rebounds and three steals, while Niemeyer finished with a career-high seven assists.

SUNY New Paltz is back in action Tuesday for its regular season finale in the Hawk Center against SUNY Cortland. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. 

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