The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team head north Friday and Saturday to take on SUNYAC foes Potsdam and Plattsburgh. The Hawks, fresh off their 75-69 victory over Catskill Cup foe Oneonta Tuesday, look to continue their quest for another SUNYAC championship title.

"Going off [Tuesday], I think we played really well. Defensively we played with a lot of pressure, but I definitely think we need to step it up going into this weekend," said SUNY New Paltz sophomore guard/forward Brianna Fitzgerald. "We definitely [need to continue to] finish out plays, securing rebounds and not letting bigger girls get easy put-back layups, and Potsdam this weekend is a big team, so we really need to focus up and box out and secure that rebound."

Friday night the Hawks enter Potsdam's Jerry Welsh Gymnasium to take on a Bears team that is on a five-game winning streak. Tuesday Potsdam defeated arch-rival Plattsburgh, 67-63 for its initial SUNYAC win. The Hawks defeated Potsdam twice in the 2019-20 season, 72-42 and 78-55, respectively. 

As a team, the 5-1 overall, 1-0 SUNYAC Bears are averaging 64.5 points per game while giving up a meager 54.3 points per game. Potsdam has been shooting at a 33.6 percent a clip overall and 23.6 percent from 3-point range, while pulling down 40.7 rebounds per game and averaging 8.8 steals per game.

Leading the Bears is junior guard Dyamon Hunter (Bronx, NY/ Thurgood Marshall Academy). Hunter is averaging 15.4 points per game, with a single game high of 35 points against St. Lawrence. Second in the scoring column is Roberts Wesleyan transfer Madison McCormick (Heuvelton, NY/Heuvelton Central School) with 9.8 points per game, after hitting for 18 points against Plattsburgh. Her 23 assists and 26 steals lead the Bears. Jefferson Community College transfer junior forward Alyson Crosby (Brier Hill, NY/Hammond Central School) follows with 8.8 points per game and tops the Bears in rebounding and blocks. Another Roberts Wesleyan transfer, junior Mandy Barnell (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool HS) is averaging 7.3 points per game and 4. 8 rebounds per game. Two sophomore guards, Caroline La Fountain (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Springs HS) and Bella Barner (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool HS) are averaging 7.2 and 6.0 points per game, while first-year guard Xy'El Bradford (Syracuse, NY/Syracuse Academy of Science) is averaging an even seven points per game.

"We have to just be on top of knowing our defenses on the court," Fitzgerald said. "We are going to try and switch up a bunch of different defenses on them, so it's really going to be up to us to focus up and know where we are on the court the whole time and know who we're guarding personnel wise. Potsdam is definitely bigger and has more skilled guards than any teams that we've played so far, so we really got to be aggressive this weekend."

Saturday afternoon the Hawks travel to Memorial Hall to meet the Cardinals of Plattsburgh. SUNY New Paltz, which defeated the Cardinals 81-41 and 73-45 in 2019-20, will meet a Plattsburgh team that lost a tight 63-67 contest Tuesday night to cross-rival Potsdam. The Cardinals hold a 3-3 overall record and are 0-1 in SUNYAC. They are averaging 63.8 points per game while giving up 66.8 points per game. Plattsburgh averages 38.3 rebounds per game and 10 steals per game.

First-year player Payton Couture (Redford, NY/Saranac HS) leads the Cardinals in three categories: scoring (13.7 pg), rebounds (7.8 pg) and blocks (1.5 pg). Junior guard Mya Smith (Wappingers Falls, NY/Roy C. Ketcham HS), who hit for a team high 20 points against the Bears, follows with 13.3 points per game and is second in assists. Sophomore Brinley Inglee (Hudson Falls, NY/Hudson Falls HS) is averaging 9.5 points per game and senior guard Kayla Doody leads the Cardinals in assists and steals, while averaging nearly six points a contest.

The Hawks begin this weekend a six-game road journey before they return home Jan. 14. At home on Tuesday, SUNY New Paltz downed SUNYAC rival Oneonta 68-53 for their first conference win. Averaging 68.3 points per game while giving up 61.5 points per game, the Hawks are 5-1 overall and 1-0 in SUNYAC and has won four consecutive games, with their only loss coming against the University of Rochester in the Yellowjackets home tournament. SUNY New Paltz is looking to capture its third straight SUNYAC championship and its trip to the North Country is an important step in that direction.

"I am so excited for this weekend. It was definitely a different type of environment [Tuesday]," Fitzgerald said. "You can feel it, especially with home court advantage. The crowd was going crazy and our team was going crazy, so hopefully we can carry that energy over to this weekend."

The Hawks are getting balanced play across the board and are especially potent coming off the bench. Leading the team is Fitzgerald (Dix Hills, NY/Island Trees HS) with 15.5 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. Right behind her is junior guard/forward Maddie Gillis (Levittown, NY/Division Avenue HS) with 14.8 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game. Gillis and Fitzerald also stand first and second in assists with 24, and 20 respectively. Junior guard Lexi Van Vorst (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia HS) follows with 10.8 points per game. Sophomore forward Abby Korzekwinski (Shoreham, NY/Shoreham-Wading River HS) is second in rebounds with 6.8 per game; junior guard /forward Victoria Venus (Mineola, NY/Mineola HS) turned in a career performance against Oneonta with a 14-point, 12-rebound outing against the Red Dragons.

"I don't think we've played to our fullest potential yet, but I definitely think it's coming," Fitzgerald added. "We definitely have a good team, but I want to see what we can do. We've definitely have had spurts throughout the season where we're playing a solid 15-20 minutes, but I can't wait until we finally put it all together and play as a unit, and get a whole 40 minutes in."

The Hawks are set to face the Bears Friday night at 5:30 p.m. before tipping-off against the Cardinals Saturday at 2 p.m.

Potsdam and Plattsburgh Preview Featuring Brianna Fitzgerald

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