New Paltz, NY — In a close SUNYAC Championship game among conference rivals, the State University of New York at New Paltz faced a familiar adversary in No. 2 seeded SUNY Cortland Saturday in the Hawk Center.
 
The Hawks (23-4 overall, 18-0 SUNYAC) were looking to beat the Red Dragons for the third-straight year to collect what would have been their fourth straight SUNYAC title, but Cortland (23-4, 16-2) was able to pull the upset and earn a 57-52 victory.
 
"They played a really hard game," said SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward. "They beat us to a lot of loose balls early. They really set the tone, took it to the basket on us early… and we were really back on our heels for the first time, really in months. I think we settled in and at halftime, we thought we were where we needed to be… [but] we didn't make that little 6-0 spurt to start the third quarter, second half like we had been doing and then it was just a fight back and forth. It came down to one shot going in either way, one call going in your direction and ultimately it wasn't one thing, it was a bunch of things and they played very well."
 
The Red Dragons got out in front early thanks to second chance opportunities and led by seven with four minutes to go in the half. Brianna Fitzgerald answered for the Hawks though, scoring on a left-handed drive off the glass to help the offense get going in the final minutes of the opening quarter. Lexi Van Vorst connected from 3, coming off a screen atop the arc that trimmed the Cortland lead, 11-8, but the visitors responded with a bucket in the paint. Fitzgerald found her way to the foul line with her team in the bonus, hit on both before SUNY New Paltz added on for 3 following a defensive stop. Graci Serravillo, staying in front of her man, forced a turnover after Emily Morano stepped baseline trying to drive to the hoop. Serravillo then capitalized on the other end as she swished from the corner on a kickout by Jenny Walton.
 
Cassidy Deaver was subbed into the second quarter and made an immediate difference on the defensive end and even got the offense going with a smooth finish driving and hitting on a reverse layup in transition to cut the deficit to 22-17. SUNY New Paltz earned a stop on the other end, as Fitzgerald worked her way to the hoop earning an and-1 on the ensuing possession. After the make, the Dix Hills, NY native tied the score at 22 as she took advantage of good pressure defense by Julia Sabatino who also played crucial minutes in the second, and earned a steal, going coast-to-coast for two.
 
 
After trailing by as many as nine in the quarter, the Hawks took their first lead of the game with four minutes left following a block by Sabatino that led to another two easy fastbreak points by Fitzgerald.
 
Cortland tied the game at 24, but Van Vorst fed Abby Korzekwinski inside to re-up the advantage. Van Vorst then forced a turnover on a steal, leading to a basket by Fitzgerald to bring the lead to 28-24 with less than two minutes left in the half, but Cortland laid in two more before the break and tighten the difference to two entering the third quarter.

Throughout their 20-game winning streak heading into Saturday, the Hawks won most of their matchups by getting hot early at the start of each half. They trailed to begin the first against Cortland and looked to build on their two-point lead to begin the third, but the Red Dragons keyed in on those pivotal opening minutes of the second half. Sarah Tully earned a trip to the line in the opening possession, making 1-of-2. Walton connected in the paint next time down, but Cortland answered following an offensive rebound by Julia Siler which led to a make in the paint by Morano. The Hawks led for the next three minutes, sustaining a slight three-point margin, but the Red Dragons re-took the lead following another offensive rebound by Siler, which led to a basket underneath by Longford that pushed the score 39-38 Red Dragons entering the final 10 minutes.  
"Kudos to New Paltz, what a fantastic game. The last three years in the championship they've always been great games," said Cortland coach Jacey Brooks. "I was really proud of our team's effort to start the game. I thought those first five minutes were very, very important, along with the first five minutes of the second half. Kudos to all the girls. They came in in a mental focus, mentally prepared both offensively and defensively to hold a team of that caliber to 52 points was great."
 
Longford scored the next four points for the Red Dragons to open up the fourth, but Van Vorst knotted the score at 43-all on an and-1 driving to the basket. Walton gave her team back the lead after getting hit hard on her way to the hoop, putting her on the line for two. The Red Dragons re-took the advantage with five minutes to go, but Walton tied the score at 48 after swishing from the corner on a nice look by Fitzgerald.
 
The two teams went scoreless for the next two minutes before Cortland went up by two after an unforced turnover on a bad pass that landed in the backcourt for a loss of possession with the Red Dragons taking advantage on a basket by Longford. With less than two minutes left though, SUNY New Paltz re-took the lead thanks to a tough effort by Korzekwinski off an initial miss by Van Vorst in the paint. The Shoreham, NY native hustled down the loose ball before it leaked out of bounds, throwing a pass to Serravillo to keep the possession alive, which led to a Fitzgerald and-1, pushing the hosts up 51-50.
 
The Hawks get a stop on the defensive end, but Morano took the ball back after picking off a cross court pass, which led to a trip to the line where she hit both, handing Cortland a 52-51 lead with 45 seconds left.
 
SUNY New Paltz worked the clock down to 23.3 seconds, as Van Vorst getting a look from 3 off a screen, but the attempt hit the top of the rim and bounced out with Morano coming up with the defensive board. The Hawks were forced to foul, putting Longford on the line. The senior made the first and missed the second, but SUNY New Paltz couldn't secure the rebound, as the loose ball ricocheted out of bounds, keeping Cortland ball. The Hawks intentionally fouled Morano who missed both, this time Fitzgerald grabbed the board, got hit and earned herself two from the charity stripe. She missed the first, made the second and cut the difference two one with 16.6 seconds left.

SUNY New Paltz was forced to place Longford back on the foul line where she connected on both, leading to a Hawks timeout. Out of the break, they drew up a play that led to a good look by Walton from the corner for 3, but the shot was off the mark and Morano came up with the defensive board. SUNY New Paltz immediately fouled, but Morano hit both attempts at the line all but putting the game away.  
"I definitely think Cortland executed their defensive game plan this time around and that's where I think we kind of struggled," Fitzgerald said. "I think they guarded me a lot differently than they did previously. They were closing a lot more. They kind of got us out of our game and we weren't really moving well off of that, which I think is something we need to work on going forward. I also feel like they came out with a strong intensity. We usually come out with that kind of intensity, and it shuts other teams down, but they matched us quick with that."
 
Fitzgerald led all scorers with 28 points to go along with nine rebounds, two steals, a block and an assist. Van Vorst followed with eight points, two rebounds and three steals with an assist. Walton had seven points, a rebound and two assists. Longford led the Red Dragons with 17 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals and helped Cortland win the rebounding battle, 39-27 in the game.

Fitzgerald and Van Vorst both earned All-Tournament team, along with Geneseo's Kerry Dennin and Cortland's Tully, Morano and MVP Longford.
 
With the win, Cortland earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Hawks, meanwhile, wait to see if their body of work all season earned them a spot with an at-large bid. The NCAA Division III selection show is scheduled for Monday.
 
"You always hear people talk about sometimes needing a loss to refocus you and maybe that will be the case for us, but I don't think we lacked focus," Seward said. "We just were a little bit on our heels. I'm not sure exactly why. Again, you have to give credit to Cortland, but there's not time for a possession here and a possession there, like 'oh now we're ready,' and we had a lot of those in a lot of different ways, both from an effort and an intensity and an execution standpoint. We'll need to be ready for the urgency of the win and go home situation that it definitely will be. Hopefully, it wasn't today but we'll find that out Monday."

SUNY New Paltz Post-Game Press Conference


Cortland Post-Game Press Conference


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