Brockport, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz took down the Brockport Golden Eagles.

The visiting Hawks saw success on all parts of the court and took their second conference win with an overwhelming 30-point victory of 89-59. SUNY New Paltz has been victorious in the past 11 matchups against Brockport, dating back to the 2017-2018 season.

"Brockport had a couple of nice wins this week coming into today, so I think it brought out a bit of a higher level of focus from our players," commented coach Jamie Seward. The Golden Eagles came into the game 5-1, and the Hawks 4-1, so anticipation was high.

Jenny Walton set the tone by sinking a three, assisted by Julia Sabatino, for the first points of the quarter. Sabatino followed with a made layup, and Walton sunk a field goal to put the Hawks up 7-0 in the first. SUNY New Paltz got into foul trouble a few minutes later in the quarter, accumulating four team fouls not even halfway through the first. Keeping their cool, the Hawks continued their scoring pattern, and Brianna Fitzgerald added eight points in a row, extending the lead to 21-5. 

The Hawks' defense was of importance during this time. Seward noted, "When we got into some early foul trouble our zone was very effective and allowed us to grow our lead in spite of the foul issues."

Brockport was able to put a few up, ending the first trailing SUNY New Paltz 23-12.

SUNY New Paltz continued to dominate the scoreboard, starting the second with five points made in the first three minutes, but the Golden Eagles got moving offensively and were able to compete more with the Hawks' dominating offense. Semaiah Williams scored off a layup, followed by Walton with a jumper to put SUNY New Paltz up 16 in the second. Brockport scored once more before the half, and when the buzzer sounded the Hawks led 41-27. SUNY New Paltz went in for halftime leading the Golden Eagles in every statistical category.

Brockport was eager to shorten the score deficit in the third, but SUNY New Paltz kept on scoring. Abby Korzekwinski began producing shots in the paint, and Walton was electric from the field, the duo scoring 15 points combined in the third quarter alone. The Hawks pushed past a 20-point lead, and ended the quarter up 67-45. 

Continuing the good momentum into the fourth quarter, SUNY New Paltz would not let up on the Golden Eagles and scored until the final buzzer sounded. By the end of the game, the Hawks had amassed a 30-point lead and were victorious 89-59. SUNY New Paltz put the game away in the fourth — and set a record while they were at it. Walton scored eight points in a row to surpass her previous career-high points in a game, subbing out for the final time with this new accolade. 

"We came into this game focused on playing fast and with high energy — our team feeds off of each other's energy and I think that's where it all clicked today," said Walton. "Everyone has a huge impact on today's game as we moved the ball offensively very well against their zone."

Walton had a career game. She led the Hawks with 34 points, which ties her for second in the program's single-game record books. She added six rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Fitzgerald added an impressive 16 points and five steals, keeping her top spot in both statistical categories for this season. Korzekwinski put up 14 points and came up with 10 rebounds, and Hammell dished out eight assists. 

Getting two on the road out of the way is great," said Seward, "but we still have a number of things we need to get figured out. So we'll get back at it Monday with a big non-conference matchup coming next weekend."

The Hawks will see action again on Dec. 9, where they will face the Ithaca Bombers at home. Tip-off is at 2 p.m.

"Moving forward, we are excited for the next competition and we're ready to attack in our next game just like we did this one as a unit," commented Walton.

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