Brockport, NY — With the up-and-downs the State University of New York at New Paltz faced over the course of the week and even within the last 24 hours, the team shouldered all of the adversity, went on the road and defeated a tough Brockport team, 60-55 Saturday.
 
The Hawks (7-3 overall, 3-1 SUNYAC) only had eight players at practice for most of the week prepping for what they thought was going to be a pair of games on the weekend against SUNY Geneseo and The College at Brockport, but due to COVID protocols their game against the Knights Friday night was postponed to Jan. 17. Getting some players back and having to keep others at home, they entered their matchup with the Golden Eagles with just eight players, some of which had limited practice time as they faced a Brockport team, which was coming off a convincing 75-51 win over Oneonta the night before, along with a full bench heading into the game, and showed poise to hold on and close out with the victory.
 
"Honestly, probably the best regular season win I've ever been a part of, maybe the best win period," said SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward. "For them to go through everything this week, have only eight players — a different eight then practiced all week, and then have a rollercoaster game like that, overcome some serious foul trouble, obviously little depth, and then figure out a way to win against a really tough Brockport team, just very proud to be their coach."
 
 
All eight players active for the Hawks played a key role in the win. They had five score nine or more points with Jenny Walton, Gabby Palladino and Julia Sabatino all contributing off the bench to help overcome a disastrous third quarter after getting out to a double-figure lead in the first half.
 
"I think Sabs really played a crucial role as well defending a very tough cover in Chelsea Henry. Jenny hit a couple huge, huge shots, Bri [Fitzgerald] made a couple plays down the stretch also and Gabby came in and made an immediate impact," Seward said. "Maddie Gillis struggled finishing, but she came up with a couple enormous offensive rebounds. It may not have been our total team today, but it was a total team effort for sure."
 
The Hawks offense started to get going midway through the first quarter with Graci Serravillo facilitating a 7-0 run by knocking down a corner 3-pointer as the shot clock winded down with about three minutes left in the period. Palladino added on next time down the floor with a made 3 of her own to extend the lead to five. Brockport's Anna Felice answered with a contested trey, but SUNY New Paltz held momentum to end the quarter with a last second basket. After a missed shot by the Golden Eagles, Walton picked up the rebound and found Gillis who pushed the ball and found Palladino running the floor who laid in her basket as the buzzer sounded to give SUNY New Paltz an 18-11 advantage entering the second quarter. 
The Hawks opened up the following 10 minutes with five-straight points leading to an early timeout by Brockport two minutes in. Deaver propelled SUNY New Paltz offensively by knocking down one of her two made 3's of the period with Gillis helping on a nice cross court feed after hustling to grab her own offensive rebound. Deaver hit again from the perimeter a possession later before Walton got in on the action with her second made triple to bring the advantage to 20. Felice broke up the 8-1 stretch with a step-back 3, which led to the hosts going on a 5-1 run to end the period to cut the score, 37-24 at halftime.
 
SUNY New Paltz had a poor third quarter, hitting just three shots with its first made basket not coming until 4:15 left in the period on a made 3 by Serravillo. Unforced turnovers on off ball fouls, traveling violations and bad passes hindered any offensive momentum and in turn, the Golden Eagles climbed back into the game and evened the score at 40-all following a layup by Erin Radack.
 
Fitzgerald immediately answered for the Hawks, draining a 3 at the other end to push her team back ahead. After the Golden Eagles got another basket to go on their next possession, Serravillo connected on a banked jumper in the paint with less than a minute to play in the quarter.

Following a pair of made free throws by Brockport to trim the difference to two, Walton buried a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to help SUNY New Paltz to a 48-44 advantage entering the fourth.
 
Brockport didn't take long to tie the game once again with back-to-back made baskets in the paint to knot the score at 48-48. Walton responded for the Hawks, hitting another 3 to push her team back ahead. Two possessions later, Deaver knocked down her third shot from distance to extend the advantage with about six minutes left. The Golden Eagles continued working inside and a pair of free throws, along with a made basket on the block, allowed the hosts within three at 56-52 with three minutes to play.
 
SUNY New Paltz capitalized on the other end with help from Serravillo and Deaver who picked up back-to-back offensive boards, which led to a driving layup from Gillis to push the score to 58-53 with 2:13. Seward followed with a timeout, but Felice scored out of the break on a tough shot with two Hawks contesting. A shot clock violation by SUNY New Paltz gave the Golden Eagles a chance to tie with less than a minute remaining. Radack found space to drive through the lane, but Williams who battled foul trouble with four early fouls, earned her fifth block of the game to deny Brockport's hopes of a late comeback. Up three, the Hawks milked time off the game clock until Gillis' drive to the hoop. She couldn't get her shot to go but Fitzgerald hustled to grab the loose ball and forced the Golden Eagles to foul. Gillis was then intentionally fouled on the ensuing inbound and sent to the line where she calmly sank both attempts to push the lead to five with 5.2 seconds remaining.
 
"Cass and Graci came out hot and helped us build that 20-point cushion that we needed every bit of. Semaiah's presence inside against a big, physical opponent was crucial and when she picked up her fourth foul early in the third, well not having her certainly was tough with our other bigs not with us," Seward said. "When she returned to the game with about 4-5 minutes to go, she was that presence we desperately needed to finish it out."
 
Following a timeout, Sabatino tipped Brockport's entry pass with the ball trickling out of bounds to leave just 2.3 seconds on the clock and the Golden Eagles needing two made baskets to tie. Their final attempt fell short with time expiring and SUNY New Paltz came away with the hard-fought win.
 
Fitzgerald, who also dealt with some foul trouble, finished as SUNY New Paltz's leading scorer with 13 points on 5-for-17 shooting. Serravillo followed with 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and one steal, while Deaver added 10 points on a season-high three made 3's to go along with six rebounds and one block. Gillis ended with a team-high 11 rebounds, six assists and nine points, while Williams finished the game with five blocks, seven rebounds and two assists in 23 minutes. It's the second time this season Williams finished with at least five blocks, recording six against Plattsburgh earlier this year. She joins only Alex McCullough '13 and Dana Maul '94 to have five or more blocks in a single game twice in a season in program history. McCullough and Maul are first and second all-time in career blocks.  
 
Next up for SUNY New Paltz is a Thursday night matchup at home against Buffalo State at 5:30 p.m. followed by a 2 p.m. tip-off in the Hawk Center against Fredonia Friday.

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