This weekend shapes up to be a dandy for women's basketball fans as the Hawks of the State University of New York at New Paltz take on two top SUNYAC contenders: SUNY Cortland and SUNY Oswego in the first of the season series against both teams.
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The Red Dragons enter Friday night's contest with a 14-2 record and a perfect 9-0 SUNYAC mark. They are fresh off a rousing 70-66 come-from-behind victory over nationally ranked No. 25 Bowdoin College on Monday night. Last season the Cortland split the regular season with SUNY New Paltz, winning 63-46, but falling to the Hawks, 51-42 before losing in the SUNYAC Championship game on its home floor, 66-65. In the overall series Cortland holds a 43-18 lead over SUNY New Paltz.
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On the season the Red Dragons are dominating their opponents, hitting for 72.8 points per game and holding foes to just 54.4 points per game against. They have a 43.6-37.3 rebound per game advantage on the season while totaling of 10.1 steals, 3.4 blocks and are scoring an average of 17.1 points per game off of opponents' turnovers.
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Leading Cortland is newcomer Emily Morano (5'7, Olyphant, PA). The senior guard played two years for King's College (PA) averaging 10.8 points and 9.5 rebounds per game for the Monarchs. In her first season with the Red Dragons, she has already earned three SUNYAC Player of the Week awards, while averaging 14.4 points and 5.7 rebounds per game with a team high of 33 steals. Against Bowdoin she had a career night, scoring 29 points, pulling down 11 rebounds and dishing out four assists, while shooting 7-for-12 from 3-point land. She has had 14 double figure games thus far, with three at 20-plus points.
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Joining her is senior forward/guard Nyia Longford (5 '10, Medford, NY), a Second-Team All-SUNYAC pick last season. Longford is averaging about 11 points and five rebounds per game with 39 assists and 21 steals. She has hit double figures in 10 games this season and against the Polar Bears had 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. Next, senior guard Casey Travers (5'8, Manorville, NY), a 2022 SUNYAC All-Tournament selection, is averaging 9.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, and has a team leading 38 assists with 10 blocks and 28 steals. Senior forward Sarah Tully (6'2, East Aurora, NY) is registering nine points and seven rebounds per game with 21 assists and a team leading 13 blocks. Senior forward Maggie Malone (5'9, Cornwall, NY), a 2022 First-Team All-SUNYAC selection and D3hoops.com All-Region pick, dropped 12 points against Bowdoin, and is averaging 8.9 points, and 3.8 rebounds per game with eight double-figure games thus far.
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Saturday afternoon the Hawks take on the always dangerous Lakers of Oswego. While their 4-4 SUNYAC mark is not impressive, their 11-4 overall record is. Last season SUNY New Paltz captured the series, winning away 62-57 and home 56-37. The Hawks lead the series which begun in 1990, 30-22.
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The Lakers are averaging 66.7 points per game while allowing 61.1 points per game to their opponents. They have out rebounded their foes 52.7-41.8 per game and are averaging seven steals and about three blocks per game, while scoring an average of 12.4 points off of opponents' turnovers.
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Newcomer Karliegh Leo (5'7, Liverpool, NY), a transfer guard from Stevenson University, leads Oswego with 14.1 points and 3.9 rebounds a contest with 31 assists and 13 steals. Leo has 10 double-figure games under her belt, including three 20-plus games.
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Following is sophomore forward Diamond Pickett (5 '9', Rochester, NY) with 13.4 points per game and a team leading 12.0 rebounds a contest, with 21 assists and 10 steals. She has scored double-figure points in eight of 10 games played with two 20-plus outings. Graduate student guard Logan Castiglione (5'8, Waterloo, NY) has nine double-figure games and averages 10.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game with 32 assists and 15 steals. Sophomore guard Shania Iglesias (5'6, Baldwin, NY) is also averaging 10.1 points per game, while pulling down nearly five boards an outing with a team leading 33 assists and five blocks.
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The Hawks are 12-3 overall and 8-0 in SUNYAC, second to Cortland. They scored two big away wins last weekend, defeating Brockport 69-54 and Geneseo 64-46. As a team, SUNY New Paltz is averaging 64.9 points per game and limiting opponents to 48.5 points per game, out rebounding foes 40.1-33.4 per game, and averaging 12.9 assists and 10.3 steals per game. They are scoring 21.5 points per game off of opponents' turnovers.
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Junior guard/forward
Brianna Fitzgerald (5 '10, Dix Hills, NY) leads the Hawks with 13.7 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. She tops SUNY New Paltz with 42 assists, 36 steals and nine blocks. Fitzgerald has 12 double figure games with a season high of 24 points against Geneseo. Joining her is junior guard
Jenny Walton (5'8, Greenwood Landing, NY) with 9.2 points per game and 24 steals on the year. She has scored in double figures in seven games. Senior guard
Lexi Van Vorst (5'6, East Greenbush, NY) averages 7.2 points and three rebounds per game with 28 assists and 24 steals. Her 17 points against Brockport was a season high. Junior forward
Abby Korzekwinski (6'0, Shoreham, NY), with six games in double figures, is averaging nearly seven points and five boards a contest with six blocks. Senior guard
Maddie Gillis (5'9, Levittown, NY) follows with about six points and four rebounds a contest with 30 assists and 15 steals. Â
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Tip off Friday evening against Cortland is 5:30 pm and Saturday afternoon against the Lakers is 2 p.m.
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