New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz extended its winning streak to eight games Friday night after holding off previously SUNYAC undefeated SUNY Cortland to claim the top spot in the conference standings with a 71-67 win in the Hawk Center.
 
"It felt really good to come out and beat the other team on the leaderboard in the SUNYAC today, especially at home," said Hawks senior guard Lexi Van Vorst. "This is three-straight wins for us against them, which is huge for us going into the end of our season. The first time we played them [last season] was a really rough game and we ended up figuring it out the second time we played them, so it's really encouraging to see us come out and just execute, and make some shots in our first outing against them."
 
Van Vorst, coming off a season-high last weekend in a win over Brockport, came out and had one of the best games of her collegiate career as she locked down Red Dragons leading scorer Emily Morano for most of the contest, while leading her team offensively on the night. The 5-foot, 6-inch East Greenbush, NY native connected on 5-for-8 from 3-point range and was 7-for-11 from the floor to post a game- and season-high of 20 points with a team-leading five assists, three rebounds and two steals.
 
"It felt really good to come out there and just play my game," she said. "Our defensive assignment was not to let [Morano] shoot any 3's and for the most part we did that. We had a couple blocks on her and at the end of the day she got some things going to the basket, but we knew that 3-pointers were what could beat us today and at the end of the day we really did well. They only put up three 3's so that really helped us win this game."
 
 
Jenny Walton kick-started the offense for SUNY New Paltz, hitting on a corner 3 to give the hosts its first points of the period. On the ensuing play, the Hawks went into a full court press with Walton coming up with a steal off Cortland's Sarah Tully leading to a trip to the line for Brianna Fitzgerald where she hit both. SUNY New Paltz never trailed from there and began building a first-half cushion to keep the Red Dragons at bay.
 
Van Vorst started getting in on the action with one of her three first-half 3's to boost her team's advantage, 8-3. Van Vorst helped create a Red Dragons turnover two possessions later, stepping in to take a charge which then led to a Madison Mullman trey to bring the cushion to 10-5 midway through the first. Van Vorst registered the final points of the quarter for the Hawks, connecting on another 3-ball before Logan Streety added two for Cortland from the foul line in the final seconds to cut the score, 21-13 after the first 10 minutes of play.  
SUNY New Paltz continued to roll entering the second, as Fitzgerald got the quarter started with an and-1. Serravillo connected on two of her six first-half points to bring the score to 26-17, capitalizing on a floater with the Hawks deep in the shot clock. Back-to-back offensive boards by Maddie Gillis gave a second opportunity for Van Vorst to make a play, as the senior cut through the lane, took contact and connected on the basket for the and-1 leading to Cortland's first timeout of the quarter with SUNY New Paltz taking its first double-digit cushion. The Red Dragons cut the deficit to seven on a made basket by Nyia Longford in the paint with more than two minutes to go, but Walton answered with a soft touch on a 3-ball that hit off the edge of the rim before falling in to up the lead back to 10. Streety added a free throw to cut the difference to single digits with a minute to go and the score stayed at 39-30 as the two teams headed into the locker room for the break.
 
Abby Korzekwinski was the catalyst to start the second half, as she single-handily went on a 7-0 run as SUNY New Paltz continued feeding the 6-footer inside on three-straight offensive possessions. Korzekwinski ignited the stretch with a traditional 3-point play, before working her way inside in the halfcourt and then running the floor following a steal by Van Vorst, which gave the Hawks their largest lead of the game at 16 two minutes into the third. Casey Travers ended the scoreless drought for the Red Dragons and in turn, helped her team to their own unanswered run, scoring nine straight in the following three-plus minutes to bring the score down to 46-39. Good ball movement led to a Van Vorst assist to Walton, as the junior guard drained another trey to break up the stretch and bulking her team's lead into double figures once more.

After Cortland worked back within six, Walton was sent to the line on a loose ball foul with SUNY New Paltz in the bonus where she connected on both attempts. Walton finished in the lane with less than three minutes left to up the score to 53-43, and after a defensive stand, Serravillo went coast-to-coast after snatching a defensive board on one end to finish in transition the other way to build a 12-point lead for the Hawks. However, Cortland worked the difference to eight in the final seconds of the period with Morano hitting from behind the arc, cutting the score 58-50.
 
A Julia Siler jumper midway through the fourth created a two-score affair before Van Vorst made the Red Dragons pay after an offensive board by Korzekwinski, who kicked the ball out to her atop the arc. Van Vorst swished another from distance and shushed the visiting crowed along the way.
 
"It's always easy to get into the game against Cortland," she said. "The last two years we've played them in the SUNYAC Championship and the last time we played them was winning a SUNYAC Championship on their floor, so it's just kind of momentum playing them every time. It always feels like a big game and it always has a big meaning, so it's easy to get lost in the game and get really hype for everyone and every little thing that happens."  
The basket proved critical as it stalled Cortland's momentum, with the Red Dragons going scoreless for the next two possessions before Travers hit in the paint, cutting the score 65-60 with 3:30 to go. Gillis earned her way to the foul line next time down the floor and upped the lead to seven after connecting on both attempts. Longford worked her way underneath the basket on back-to-back possessions and was awarded with a pair of trips to the charity stripe where she made 3-of-4 in the final two minutes to get her team within four.
 
SUNY New Paltz was sent to the foul line eight times in the final minute and a half and sank just half, keeping Cortland alive but it continued its defensive tenacity on the other end which helped them close out the game.

Tully trimmed the score 69-67 with 14.9 seconds left on a put-back, but the Hawks never panicked. SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward called a timeout, drew up a play and put the ball in the hands of Fitzgerald who got to the foul line with 10.3 seconds on an attempt through the paint. She made both to create a four-point game and the defense made one last stand, not allowing the Red Dragons a good look until the buzzer expired to claim the win.
 
"We really came out and executed our defensive game plan as well," Van Vorst said. "We've been really good about defending teams behind the arc and at the end of the day, that really helped us come out with this win."
 
The Hawks held the Red Dragons to 42 percent shooting from the floor, but limited chances out on the perimeter with the visitors making just 3-of-12 attempts. SUNY New Paltz forced 18 turnovers, scoring 17 off those miscues. The biggest difference though, was 3-point shooting, as they hit nearly 53 percent (9-for-17) on the night.
 
"In practice all week this week we talked about executing different matchups on offense and I think we did that really well," Van Vorst said. "We got some easy kick-out 3's and we got to the basket and started the game off with a couple and-1's, so they really couldn't guard us to start the game, which felt really good and that's really what we tried to do at practice this week."
 
Following Van Vorst's season-high was Walton who totaled 15 points, two rebounds, two steals and an assist in 29 minutes. Fitzgerald followed with 11 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a steal. Serravillo also had a standout performance, finishing with a team-leading nine rebounds and three steals, to go along with eight points and two assists.
 
The win improved the Hawks to 13-3 overall and as the lone unbeaten in the SUNYAC as it tallied its 10th consecutive victory. They hope to extend their winning streak Saturday, hosting Oswego in the Hawk Center at 2 p.m.
 
"Our favorite time of the year is the postseason and at the end of the January, and we always have to have March possessions now to get ready for that nameless, faceless opponent," Van Vorst added. "We can't ride the high of this win. This is just a normal regular season win, so we have to go out there and get another win tomorrow against Oswego."

Post-Game Interview with Lexi Van Vorst

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