Oneonta, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz held off hosting Oneonta Tuesday night in its opening SUNYAC game of the season, needing a clutch, last-second go-ahead bucket by Lexi Van Vorst to push them up by one in the final seconds. The Hawks hung on from there and earned the road conference win, 53-50.
 
SUNY New Paltz hit pivotal shots down the stretch, specifically from Van Vorst and fellow senior guard Maddie Gillis down the stretch, but as a team it continued struggling from the floor allowing the Red Dragons to stick around throughout the game. Defensively, the Hawks poised their usual swarming defense and forced 20 turnovers that resulted in just eight points, but in turn, they also struggled holding onto the ball, suffering 20 turnovers as well, second highest all season.
 
"Yes, the turnovers are a major issue, mainly because we do it to ourselves for the most part. It's not like they were up aggressively pressuring, but they do some things schematically that we just didn't make good decisions attacking," said SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward."
 
Locked at six with three minutes to go in the first quarter, Morgan Hammell knocked down a 3-pointer to push the Hawks ahead and spark an 8-5 run to end the period that upped their lead to 14-11 at the end of the first.  
The Red Dragons stuck around and worked their way back midway through the second period, as Amanda Zuntag hit from the top of the key to give the hosts their first lead since the opening minutes. Van Vorst helped knot the score once more, as she swished from the perimeter to create a 19-all stalemate with Brianna Fitzgerald giving SUNY New Paltz back the lead a possession later with a bucket in the paint. The score changed leads three times before Victoria Venus earned her way to the foul line, making both to give her team a slight, 25-24 advantage at the break.
 
The Hawks held the lead throughout the third with Oneonta cutting the deficit to one with less than two minutes to go at 33-32. SUNY New Paltz couldn't convert on the ensuing possession and following a jump ball, the Red Dragons knocked down from 3 to regain the advantage. Fitzgerald responded on the opposite ending, getting to the foul line and draining both to tie the score at 35. SUNY New Paltz held down defensively and forced turnovers on three consecutive Red Dragons possessions in the final minute but was unable to capitalize on the other end as the score remained tied at 35 entering the fourth.
 
Oneonta scored four-straight to begin the final quarter to re-take the advantage, and it wasn't until another trey from Van Vorst, assisted by Fitzgerald, brought the lead back in the Hawks favor. Following a bucket by the Red Dragons, Fitzgerald this time found Gillis at the top of the arc to re-up SUNY New Paltz's cushion, 45-43 with less than six minutes left.
 
The Red Dragons answered with a defensive stop before Olivia Dobrovosky went coast-to-coast for two that propped a 7-0 run in the following five minutes that got Oneonta ahead, 50-45. Gillis finally broke up the unanswered stretch, getting her hook shot in the paint to go with 1:30 remaining. Gillis then made a play on the defensive end, picking off a pass on Oneonta's ensuing offensive possession before finding Fitzgerald running the floor to get SUNY New Paltz within one at 50-49 with less than a minute left, resulting in a Red Dragons timeout.

"Maddie certainly did step up. She's had a bit of a tough start to the season, and I've been pretty hard on her because I know who Maddie Gillis is and she just hasn't been that," Seward said. "That all being said, we have been really struggling with our offense, so I decided in the fourth that we were going to really simplify what we were doing on offense and basically just put the ball in Maddie and Bri's hands again and again, and they made enough plays down the stretch. Very good to see Maddie playing with much more enthusiasm, much more energy and then much more confidently in the second half today."
 
The Hawks got a defensive stop out of the Oneonta timeout with Fitzgerald snagging the defensive board. After bringing the ball up the floor, Seward called a timeout to draw up a play in the front court. With just more than 30 seconds remaining, SUNY New Paltz worked the ball around before finding Van Vorst, who drove, crossed over her defender and finished with her left off glass with six seconds left to push her team ahead by one at 51-50.
 
"I always feel good with the ball in Lexi's hands late," Seward said. "I've said it a thousand times, she isn't scared. Even if she missed a bunch that day or missed at the end of last game, she's going to take the next one without hesitating."
 
"Clutch," added Hawks senior guard Cassidy Deaver, "I wanted to kiss her."

The Red Dragons called a timeout and drew up a play of their own after advancing the ball, playing in a pass to Zuntag at the elbow. Graci Serravillo, who re-entered the game after an apparent ankle injury, did well to contest and forced an errant shot with Fitzgerald there on the rebound. Fitzgerald was sent to the line in the final seconds to ice the game, making both attempts.
 
Gillis led all scorers with 11 points off the bench on 5-for-8 shooting from the floor in 27 minutes, while adding four rebounds, an assist and a block to her stat line. Fitzgerald followed with 10 points and six rebounds, while adding two assists, a block and a steal. Van Vorst had eight points on 3-for-5 shooting with one rebound, one assist, one block and two steals, while Jenny Walton also added eight points with five rebounds, an assist and a steal. Serravillo added seven points, three rebounds and two steals in 26 minutes.
 
SUNY New Paltz shot less than 36 percent from the field in the game but was efficient in the fourth as it knocked down 7-for-14.
 
The Hawks resume SUNYAC play Friday and Saturday when they host Potsdam and Plattsburgh, respectively, in the Hawk Center.

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