The State University of New York at New Paltz enters its last home conference weekend Friday and Saturday, hosting rivals SUNY Geneseo and The College at Brockport in the Hawk Center.
 
The Hawks (15-3 overall, 10-1 SUNYAC) are second in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) heading into the weekend and is coming off a dominating defensive performance that led to a 26-point win on the road against Oswego State Tuesday. Olivia Badura guided SUNY New Paltz in the victory, as the freshman set a career-high and became just the sixth Hawk to score at least 30 points in a single game. The win marked the Hawks' fourth straight as they earned the series sweep over the Lakers.
 
SUNY New Paltz has the chance to secure two more series victories over the weekend, as it defeated the Knights and Golden Eagles on the road earlier in the year. The Hawks needed second-half comeback efforts in both matchups, rallying from 13 and 23-points down to earn 71-67 and 59-51 victories over Geneseo and Brockport, respectively.
The Hawks will have a re-match with the Knights (16-3, 9-3) Friday, who has won its last four games as well after losing two of three before the winning streak. Along with SUNY New Paltz, Geneseo suffered losses against SUNY Cortland and Brockport to fall to third in the SUNYAC standings. The Knights are most recently coming off a 68-53 victory on the road against Buffalo State Tuesday, while also earning a win on the weekend against Oswego where they scored a season-high 89 points.
 
Geneseo averages about 68 points per game, while shooting 43.3 percent from the field and just less than 34 percent from 3-point range. Junior forward Kerrin Montgomery, senior guard Sara Ciotti and junior Lindsay Halpin pace the team offensively, averaging 13.5, 10.7 and 10.5 points per game respectively. Ciotti, Halpin, along with junior Natalie Alfieri lead a strong backcourt that combined for 33 points during their first outing against the Hawks. Montgomery finished with a team-high 20 points in the game, scoring 18 in the first half alone. 
  "I don't really think they're a tough matchup," said Teape of the rival Knights. "I do think they have a lot of perimeter people who can make shots and they do have some bigs on the inside that can really post up and get to the basket, but I think we match up pretty well against them. As long as we take away things that they do often, then we'll be fine and we can attack them on the offensive glass."
 
SUNY New Paltz will take on the Golden Eagles (9-10, 6-6) Saturday, who seem to play their best basketball against the defending champs. The Hawks ousted Brockport from playoff contention the last three seasons, including last year in the SUNYAC semifinals. The Golden Eagles nearly claimed a win over SUNY New Paltz when the two teams met in mid January, as they got out to a 34-11 lead with about a minute left in the first half.
 
Kylee Rosbrook led the team in the game, scoring a team-high 14 points and seven rebounds. Julianna Taylor followed with 12 points and seven boards to go along with two assists and two steals. On the season, Taylor paces the Golden Eagles offensively with 12.3 points per game, shooting around 41 percent from the field. Rosbrook follows with about 11 points and seven rebounds a contest, while also shooting about 41 percent from the floor. 
 
Teape was the leading scorer for the Hawks in that first matchup with Brockport, scoring a game-high 21 points, while also hauling in 10 rebounds to register her fourth double-double on the season. She and fellow senior, Maddie Van Pelt (15 points, six rebounds, four steals) were pivotal in the second-half comeback. 
 
"For Brockport I do agree. They do tend to play their best against us all the time and I think for us it's not necessarily worrying about them so much, as it's worrying about what we have to do," Teape said. "Who are the players we have to stop, what are the things we need to do on defense and offensively just executing our stuff. I think that's what's going to be important when we play them is focusing on what we have to do and not necessarily chasing behind them on what they're doing."
 
Saturday's game against the Golden Eagles marks Senior Day for SUNY New Paltz, as it honors its four seniors: Teape, Van Pelt, Marion Dietz and Paige Niemeyer. The quartet is on pace to become the winningest players to suit up for the program, already with 77 career wins, while helping to bring home two SUNYAC titles and also earning a pair of NCAA Sweet 16 appearances with the latest coming last season. This year, Teape, Dietz, Van Pelt and Niemeyer has guided a young group that includes eight freshmen to another winning season with eyes set on back-to-back conference titles and a deep NCAA run.
 
"These four years went by extremely fast and being a captain, being a leader on this team has taught me so much," Teape said. "One thing that I really want to instill in this program [and what I want] to leave behind is what we believe in day in and day out -- toughness, being a competitor and that's what I want to leave behind with these underclassmen here. That's what the previous seniors before me left behind. That drive to just beat anyone that is in front of you and beat any person who thinks they can try to beat you, and try to be the best that you can. With that comes toughness, being tough and being grimy and gritty. In these four years that is one of the main things I've learned and that is one thing that I want to continue to pass on to the underclassmen coming up."
 
The Hawks are set to face the Knights Friday at 5:30 p.m. and the Golden Eagles Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Hawk Center.

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