Coming off a big win Tuesday that put the State University of New York at New Paltz in position to host the conference tournament for the second-straight year, the Hawks head into their last two regular season games looking for another pair of series sweeps over hosting Plattsburgh State and SUNY Potsdam Friday and Saturday, respectively.

SUNY New Paltz defeated visiting SUNY Cortland Tuesday in the Hawk Center, getting some revenge on the Red Dragons who had given the Hawks their only State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) loss of the season earlier in the year. The 74-68 overtime victory put SUNY New Paltz alone atop the SUNYAC with the No. 1 seed looming to host next weekend's conference tournament. Despite the top spot all but locked up, the Hawks aren't overlooking the Cardinals and Bears, who both have already been eliminated from playoff contention. They are looking to build off the win, end the regular season with two solid performances and enter SUNYAC's with just one conference loss under its belt.

"Cortland was obviously a huge win for us. It basically secured everything we worked for this whole season," said Hawks freshman guard/forward Victoria Venus. "So going into this weekend we just want to end it strong and go into the postseason very confidently, and strong as well."

The Hawks haven't seen Plattsburgh and Potsdam in nearly four months, defeating both during the first weekend of December by 40-plus points. They produced stingy defensive outings, keeping both teams to less than 27 percent shooting on 26 made baskets, while forcing a combined 54 turnovers and allowing just one player to score in double-figures in both games, which came from the Cardinals' Theresa Quinn (10 points) off the bench.

Sophomore forward Devyn Elliott leads the Potsdam offense, averaging 10.3 pints and nearly 17 rebounds per game. She produced a 20-20 outing in the Bears' home opener against Cazenovia College, pulling down 24 rebounds with 28 points, and most recently is coming off a 36-point night against Oswego where she shot 13-for-19 from the field. The game before against Cortland she scored 25 points and added 13 rebounds, which resulted in a SUNYAC Player of the Week recognition.

As a team, Potsdam averages about 67 points per game with Elliott, Dyamon Hunter (14.7), Caroline LaFountain (12.4) and Jakia Howard (11.2) all averaging double-figure points. However, they give up a league-most 73.9 points against and allows the opposition to shoot about 40 percent from the floor and nearly 30 percent from the perimeter.

"We go into every game thinking it is going to be a great game and we know every opponent we play thinks that playing us is one of their biggest games, so we go in there trying to start strong and end strong," Venus said. "Every quarter counts, every minute counts — we're not going to take anyone lightly."

Meanwhile, Plattsburgh is one the lowest scoring teams in the SUNYAC, averaging 58.4 points per game. Senior Taylor Durnin and Quinn paces the team offensively with 9.7 and 9.3 points, respectively. Senior forward Taylor Clare is the Cardinals' best rebounder, pulling down nearly nine an outing. Defensively, Plattsburgh gives up about 63 points per game and allows its opponents to shoot around 38 percent from the floor and 29 percent from 3-point range.

SUNY New Paltz enters the weekend on a nine-game winning streak, while posting a 7-1 overall record on the road where they average 70 points for, and 53 points against on the season.

"Going into this weekend and winning these two games is going to give us the confidence we need to go into next week," Venus added. "Being the number one seed puts a lot of pressure and a big target on our back, so we just want to go in there and crush everyone we see right away."

The Hawks are set to face the Cardinals Friday in Memorial Hall at 5:30 p.m. and then will travel to Potsdam to take on the Bears in Jerry Welsh Gymnasium Saturday at 2 p.m.

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