New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz remained undefeated at home Friday night as it rolled to a 71-40 win over Plattsburgh State and put itself in position to secure the No. 2 seed in the SUNYAC postseason tournament.
 
The Hawks improved to 17-6 overall with the win and 13-4 in the conference. Although the top seed was lost with SUNY Cortland earning a win Friday night, SUNY New Paltz can lock up a bye into the SUNYAC semifinal with a win over Potsdam Saturday following the victory over the Cardinals.
 
The first time the two teams played each other, the Hawks dominated inside with Semaiah Williams garnering career-highs in rebounds (16) and blocks (6). With Williams out due to injury Friday, sophomore Abby Korzekwinski stepped up and had a career performance of her own, as she finished with career-highs in points (21) field goals made (9) and field goals attempted (13) to go along with a team-leading eight rebounds in the win.
 
"We thought we could take it to them inside. That was a big part of our game plan," said SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward. "I mean Vickie [Venus] had her way in there as well, just didn't play the amount of minutes, but Vickie was able to do what she wanted when she got the ball inside as well. I thought we had that size advantage and Abby has been playing a lot more aggressively with the ball in her hands in the paint over the last couple weeks and she finished pretty well today."
 
 
"I definitely felt like I was more aggressive inside," Korzekwinski added. "This past week we've been working on getting into the post and I was able to practice posting up and this team is a lot weaker than us, so I knew playing against my team really helped. It's nothing like playing against Vickie and Semaiah in the post."
 
The Hawks held Plattsburgh to just two points in the first quarter and quickly got out to a 10-point lead, which ballooned to 18 in the second quarter following a triple by Lexi Van Vorst on an assist from Brianna Fitzgerald. SUNY New Paltz had a lackluster third quarter defensively and allowed the Cardinals to score 20 points in the period after getting to the line seven times, but the Hawks matched the effort offensively by getting to the foul line as well and knocking down shots from the perimeter. The team hit 18-for-25 from the charity stripe in the game, including 7-for-8 in the third quarter alone to aid in the team's 51-31 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
  SUNY New Paltz's bench took over in the fourth with Korzekwinski and Walton leading the way to combine for 12 points in the quarter. Julia Sabatino also had a solid game as the Hawks' primary ball-handler, finishing plus-31 when she was on the floor. The sophomore put the finishing touches on the 31-point win on a layup in the final minute of the game with SUNY New Paltz's defense holding Plattsburgh without a basket for the final 60 second stretch of the contest.

"They finished out that game well," Seward said. "We made a point to say that we often talk about that we have players at the end of our pecking order that would start or certainly would be rotational players for just about anybody in the league. So, we just made that point, you know, go show that and play well and play the way you're capable of playing. They had an excellent week of practice a lot of those players that finished the game, so it's not really that surprising. They are very capable."  
  
Following Korzekwinski offensively was Walton who produced 13 points in 24 minutes, while adding three rebounds and four assists. Fitzgerald added 10 points, three rebounds and a team-high five assists in 24 minutes.

"Jenny was aggressive. She came out and missed a couple shots early. They were good shots, just didn't make them and asked if she was settling and I was like, no just keep playing. She attacked the basket when that was what she should have done and she made a couple strong drives to basket and finished and made a couple shots on top of that," Seward said. "And Sabs, she was just solid. She took care of the ball for the most part. She had that one turnover in the first half, but she took care of the ball and defended well and gave us some great energy, which is what she really is all about more than anything. She is starting to embrace that part of who she is and what she can bring to our team right now."
 
SUNY New Paltz is back on the floor Saturday against the Bears, who defeated the Hawks the first time they faced off in early December. SUNY New Paltz is determined to even the series, which will complete an undefeated season at home for the first time in program history and second-straight time in the regular season. 
 
"For tomorrow we have a lot of revenge coming back and we haven't lost a game at home yet, so it could be history for us to get an undefeated season at home," Korzekwinski said. "I think it's really important that we come out strong. Know who we are and play confident."

Highlights & Post-Game Interview with Abby Korzekwinski


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