Buffalo, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz couldn't hold off hosting Buffalo State Sunday and suffered a 64-61 loss at the Bengals Sports Arena.
 
The game was back-and-forth from the opening minutes, seeing eight lead changes with the score tied an additional eight times throughout the contest. However, a late 13-0 run late in the first quarter and then a four-point swing with less than four minutes to go in the fourth proved as the difference in the contest.
 
Heading into the fourth quarter with a three-point lead, the Bengals went on a 8-0 run to take back control. Maddie Gillis broke up the run with a made free throw to cut the deficit to three with about five minutes to go, but a four-point swing by Buffalo State broke the game open as a made jumper by Tashawni Cornfield, followed by a steal from Cornfield led to two more points and extended the cushion to seven. The Hawks played catchup the rest of the 3:44 remaining and didn't hit enough at the foul line to tie the game in the final minutes and suffered its sixth loss of the season.
 
"A lot of things need to improve, but we have to pick one or two that we can hang our hat on and figure out how to do those things consistently to figure out what our identity is," said Hawks coach Jamie Seward. "However, time is running out fast." 
After the Bengals earned the opening points of the game, Lexi Van Vorst pushed SUNY New Paltz to its first lead with a made corner 3-pointer next time down the floor. The Hawks then built a 10-2 advantage, which they held until midway through the period. Buffalo State took just more than 30 seconds to erase the eight-point deficit as it proceeded on a 13-0 run with SUNY New Paltz suffering four turnovers in five possessions during the stretch.
 
Out of a media timeout, the Hawks gave the ball back to Buffalo State after stepping out of bounds following an inbounds play underneath their hoop. The Bengals capitalized, breaking the press and earning a quick two to re-take the lead at 11-10. They capped the 13-point unanswered streak with a put-back by Jayden Jones with 1:11 to go, bringing the lead to 15-10 before Julia Sabatino put an end to scoreless stretch for SUNY New Paltz, burying a long-ranged 3 to cut the deficit to two. The Hawks had a chance to even the score in the final minute of the quarter, but again they inadvertently stepped on the baseline for another turnover. The Bengals narrowly capitalized with Adiya Jones getting a shot off as the first quarter buzzer sounded, but Gabby Palladino stepped in to earn the charge and took away the bucket to keep the score at 15-13, Buffalo State.
 
"I agree that second part of the first quarter was a stretch that was very consequential to the way the rest of the half was played," Seward said. "We turned it over and settled for the first look from behind the arc for much of that stretch and most of the rest of the half too. They are aggressive in their half-court trap, and we didn't attack in properly until the second half."
 
The score was tied three times in the second, including at 24 with about three minutes left before halftime. Fitzgerald was sent to the line after the Bengals were in the bonus and hit 1-of-2 to push her team ahead, but the game went back-and-forth in a high-scoring final two minutes of first-half play.
 
Buffalo State re-gained the lead immediately after Fitzgerald's missed second attempt with a long-ranged jumper, but Jenny Walton answered next time down the floor with her second triple of the game to bring the Hawks lead to 28-26. Fitzgerald piled on with another 3, but Riley Domin swished from behind the arc to cut the score to 31-29 with about 40 seconds left. Cornfield picked the pocket of Sabatino and scored an easy two following the turnover to tie the game at 31-apiece, which remained at the break with both teams missing final attempts in the waning seconds.
 
The Hawks suffered 13 first half turnovers with the Bengals bench leading the way to score 19 of the team's 31 first-half points. 
SUNY New Paltz had a slow start to the third with Graci Serravillo finally putting an end to an 8-0 run by the Bengals with a banked shot in the paint to cut the deficit, 39-35. Victoria Venus came up with an offensive rebound and found Cassidy Deaver two possessions later to trim the deficit to three with Serravillo getting the Hawks within one on a nice cut down the lead with Van Vorst on the feed. After a Bengals score, Venus got SUNY New Paltz back within one once again, working her way to the block and finishing with her left. Fitzgerald then tied the game at 43 after making 1-of-2 from the foul line. Each team made a pair at the foul line to tie the score at 45, but SUNY New Paltz had the final say of the quarter as a big block by Semaiah Williams led to a swish from the perimeter by Gillis to push the Hawks ahead, 48-45 entering the fourth.
 
The Hawks made eight field goals in the final quarter with just two in the first eight minutes. Buffalo State held a lead as large as 10 with more than three minutes to go, but SUNY New Paltz grinded away to climb back in. Serravillo got the rally started with a finish in the paint to trim the deficit to eight. The Hawks defense stepped up to make stops, allowing them to add on after Van Vorst forced a turnover on a steal and added on at the foul line, making 1-of-2. Another stop followed a trip to the foul line by Deaver, who made both and closed the difference to five with 1:24 remaining. Deaver forced another Bengals turnover on a steal, leading to another a trip to the charity stripe by Venus who made 1-of-2. A miss from mid-range by Buffalo State's Brianna Smith was followed with two free throws for Fitzgerald on the opposite end where she made 1-of-2 and cut the score to 62-59 with 38 seconds remaining.
 
However, the missed free throws proved costly down the stretch as SUNY New Paltz earned the stop defensively, but was one-and-done on its next chance down the floor and was forced to intentionally foul with less than 10 seconds left. Adiya Jones hit from the foul line and iced the win for the Bengals.
 
"Missed free throws are always big. They are supposed to be free points, but that definitely hasn't been the case for us this season," said Seward as his team finished 12-for-20 from the foul line.

Fitzgerald ended with a team-high 14 points on 5-for-14 shooting in 39 minutes of action. Van Vorst followed with 11 points (4-for-14) with three rebounds, three assists and a steal. Deaver added a team-leading eight rebounds, six points, and two steals, while Walton chipped in with nine points in 15 minutes. Cornfield finished with a game-high 17 points off the bench for Buffalo State, while Katie Villarini followed with 16 points.

SUNY New Paltz is back in action Monday, taking on Fredonia State on the Road in Dodds Arena for a 12 p.m. tip-off.

*********************
To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.