Scranton, PA — The State University of New York at New Paltz enter its third-straight trip into the NCAA Tournament and are on the road for the first round for the first time since 2017 when it made traveled to the NCAA Sweet 16.
 
The Hawks (20-6 overall) haven't had the best season on the road with all six losses coming away from the Hawk Center but playing some of its best basketball of the season as of late and fresh off capturing their sixth SUNYAC title on SUNY Cortland's home floor, SUNY New Paltz is ready for this road trip with a first round matchup set Friday against Babson College (19-7).
 
"Earlier in the season, we've definitely struggled on the road. I think ending our season with four-straight home games really upped our confidence going into the postseason and I think that gave us confidence going into our SUNYAC win on the road," said Hawks junior guard Lexi Van Vorst. "If you asked me a month ago if we were going to have that confidence I would have probably said no, so I think those four home games really helped us get that winning streak started."
 
 
Van Vorst is in the midst of a stand-out postseason. Through two games of the SUNYAC Tournament the junior guard posted averages of 16.5 points and is shooting 48 percent from the field en route to being named to the conference All-Tournament team. Van Vorst and her fellow junior class has experience playing in an NCAA Tournament with their group apart of the program's second round appearance in 2020.
 
"Our urgency has gone up in the postseason in general and definitely into this week for the NCAA Tournament," Van Vorst said. "Our team is young and having no seniors is definitely a weird thing and it's hard to find that level of urgency, but I think we have been playing our best basketball towards the end of the season and I think knowing that our season can end of any given day on a loss has really upped the urgency, especially for the underclassmen who don't necessarily have a senior and I think we've done a really good job of creating energy in the gym as if we did." 
Joining Van Vorst on the All-Tournament team was fellow junior guard Maddie Gillis and tournament MVP Brianna Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald, playing in her first postseason, has carried over a stellar first season into the playoffs. She totaled 31 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and two steals in her first two games of the postseason. She recently was named to the All-SUNYAC First Team and earned Rookie of the Year honors. Gillis, who totaled 12 points, nine rebounds in the SUNYAC Championship win against the Red Dragons was named Third-Team All-SUNYAC. She enters Friday's first round bout with the Beavers averaging nearly 10 points and six rebounds per game.
 
Junior guard Graci Serravillo was another Third-Team All-SUNYAC selection for SUNY New Paltz. She heads into the game averaging the second most minutes played on the team with nearly 27 a contest.
 
Babson earned an at-large bid after falling in the NEWMAC Conference finals against No. 17 nationally ranked Smith College, which defeated the Hawks earlier in the season.
 
The Beavers are 19-6 heading into the first round against the Hawks. Leading the team offensively is sophomore guard Kelly Walsh and junior guard Megan Bauman each averaging 13-plus points per game. As a team, Babson has put up nearly 67 points per game.
 
Going into this game with Babson we're going to have to play some solid defense, especially on their guards and inside on their bigs," Van Vorst said. "I think we have some advantage on offense. We have a lot of scorers and it's going to be hard for them to guard us. I think as long as we execute the defense, we've been playing toward the end of the season we should be good."
 
SUNY New Paltz is set to tip-off against Babson Friday at the University of Scranton at 5 p.m. The winner will advance to the second round Saturday at 6 p.m. against the winner of the hosting Royals and New Jersey City College.

NCAA Preview Featuring Lexi Van Vorst


*********************
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.