Dallas, PA — After a slow start, the State University of New York at New Paltz rolled to its second-straight road win Saturday, as the Hawks got out in front in the second quarter and held off a late Misercordia run to earn a 72-63 win.
 
SUNY New Paltz trailed through most of the first quarter but stayed within distance of the hosting Cougars. Lexi Van Vorst was the leader offensively early, driving through the lane on back-to-back plays to cut the score, 11-8. Brianna Fitzgerald tied the game at 11 after SUNY New Paltz earned a half court stop defensively, forcing Misercordia into a traveling violation. Fitzgerald then capitalized on the other end, attacking the paint and finishing at the rim.
 
The Cougars answered with a mini-run and led 22-13 with about two to go after Gianna Delfino swished a baseline jumper as the shot clock expired. Julia Sabatino put an end to the stretch for SUNY New Paltz, running the floor and finishing on the break. After another defensive stop, Cassidy Deaver cut the deficit to six, grabbing the offensive board off a Fitzgerald miss and earned a trip to the line where she made 1-of-2. 
SUNY New Paltz then took control in the second quarter after limiting the Cougars to just eight points in 10 minutes. Madison Mullman became the catalyst, as she started to get hot from the perimeter immediately stepping onto the floor. Maddie Gillis found Mullman on her first of three made 3-pointers of the quarter, squaring up at the top of the arc and swishing on the trey. Two possessions later Mullman hit from the same spot and tied the game at 30-all. She then capped off an explosive five minutes of action by knocking down another 3 from the same spot, as she came off a screen and quickly released the go-ahead bucket to give SUNY New Paltz the 33-30 advantage, which it held onto heading into halftime.
 
"They certainly came out aggressively and shot the ball pretty well, but it also seemed like we were going to be able to get whatever we wanted around the basket, so once we buckled down defensively, we were able to take control of the game over the second and third quarters," said Hawks coach Jamie Seward. "But credit them because they really kicked our butt on our defensive glass and hung around by getting extra possessions."
 
SUNY New Paltz carried its momentum into the third quarter and limited the Cougars to just seven points, while scoring a game-high 22 points in the period to flex its lead to 18. An 8-0 run to start the quarter aided in the cushion with Fitzgerald leading the way.
 
Gillis found Fitzgerald for an open 3 before an offensive board by Fitzgerald led to a 3-pointer for Van Vorst to get the Hawks in front, 41-30 leading to a Misericordia timeout. Although the Cougars ended the scoreless stretch with a basket out of the timeout, Fitzgerald immediately answered, running the floor and finishing on the fast-break lay-up.
 
Abby Korzekwinski and Deaver were active on the offensive glass, as Korzekwinski earned a trip to the line after grabbing an offensive board off an initial miss by Fitzgerald with Deaver ripping away a rebound to give SUNY New Paltz a second-chance opportunity that Van Vorst capitalized on with a 3 thanks to an assist from Deaver. Victoria Venus put the finishing touches on a dominant third quarter for SUNY New Paltz, making a nice move on the block and finishing with her left to bring the Hawks lead to 55-37 at the end of the quarter.
 
"Madison was huge off the bench, as was Vickie," Seward said. "I thought both of them gave us a boost to get us even and a lead at halftime."
 
SUNY New Paltz saw its largest lead at 21 following a swish from behind the arc by Sabatino with nine minutes left in the fourth, but the Cougars worked their way back into the game after a banked 3 by Morgan Haefele helped open a 12-point run that cut the lead to eight. 
 
"We didn't play very smart to start the fourth quarter, pretty much the exact opposite of what we talked about between quarters," Seward said. "We said no fouls and we had two fouls in the first minute or two of the fourth. One on a 3-point shooter and another literally 93 feet from the basket. We said no 3's especially [Alyssa Bondi] and they made five 3's in the fourth. And then we said that we need to finish defensive possessions with everyone rebounding and they got several second and third chances. Again, have to give them credit. They have a really nice program, so they aren't going to go away. But yeah, it went from 20-plus down to eight awfully quick, and I certainly wasn't going to bail them out by calling a timeout because I think it's so important for them to learn how to stem the tide themselves."
 
Korzekwinski ended the stretch after finishing on an inbounds play underneath with Fitzgerald finding Korzekwinski next time down floor. Gillis then pushed the lead back up to 14 with four minutes left after recording a block on the defensive end. Alyssa Bondi got her team back in it with a long-ranged 3 well behind the line, but the Hawks did enough down the stretch, despite hitting on just 6-of-12 from the foul line in the final two minutes, to close out the win.
 
"I wasn't sure how they'd respond because these guys just don't have much game experience to feel one way or the other about them," Seward continued. "However, Abby, Bri, Cass, Maddie each of them demonstrated some poise that really belied that lack of experience. So even though it would've been nice to finish it out and pull away for a more comfortable win, probably more beneficial in the long run to do what we did today."
 
Fitzgerald finished with a team-leading 16 points to go along with nine rebounds, four assists and two steals, while shooting 5-for-13 from the field. Gillis followed with 13 points on 4-for-12 shooting with five rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Korzekwinski added 12 points and five boards. Deaver, meanwhile, had a game-high 10 rebounds in 34 minutes, while adding a block and three points.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back on the floor Nov. 27 when it takes on Union College in Schenectady, NY for a 7 p.m. tip.

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