Oswego, NY — The State University of New York at New Paltz cruised to its 14th-straight victory Friday night at Max Ziel Gymnasium, getting out to an 11-0 run that ballooned to 22-5 midway through the first quarter alone to eventually end with a comfortable, 71-43 victory over Oswego.
The Hawks (17-3 overall, 13-0 SUNYAC) controlled the game from the opening tip and hit nine of their first 12 shots, while forcing the Lakers (12-10, 5-9) into six turnovers within the first four minutes as they got into their full court press early. Oswego had no answer for the pressure and SUNY New Paltz quickly built a hefty cushion with junior guard/forward
Brianna Fitzgerald leading the charge.
Fitzgerald scored 12 of her team's 24 first quarter points, while playing shortened minutes due to the large advantage early on. The Hawks continued rolling with their bench and entered halftime up, 42-13.
A banked 3 by the Lakers gave the hosts the first points of the game with about six minutes left in the first quarter, which ended an 11-0 run to begin the contest, but SUNY New Paltz scored six-straight after and later held a 22-5 advantage after a made foul shot by senior guard
Lexi Van Vorst following a technical on Oswego. The Lakers scored four of the last six points of the period to trim the deficit 24-9, but the Hawks built the lead past 30 in the second.
A put-back by Fitzgerald in the opening minutes of the period pushed the score to 32-11 and
Olivia Badura added on from there with the senior burying a 3-pointer with about four minutes to go and then secured her own offensive board next time down the floor for two more that pushed the SUNY New Paltz advantage, 37-11. Freshman guard
Stasia Epler chipped in with a swish from behind the arc to push the run to 13-2 with Badura tacking on another point following a second technical on the Lakers, which came on a late push after the whistle on senior forward
Gabby Palladino who secured a loose ball.
Entering the third quarter with a 41-13 lead, SUNY New Paltz scored 12 points in the opening five minutes of the period with Oswego finally breaking the 20-point threshold with 2:50 left in the third to cut the score, 56-21. The Hawks maintained a 30-plus advantage, however, for the next two-plus minutes and flirted with a 40-point lead entering the fourth as junior guard
Julia Sabatino laid in two off an assist by senior forward
Victoria Venus to make the score 60-21.
Sabatino took over the fourth for SUNY New Paltz, as she scored six of her career-high 10 points in the final 10 minutes to help her team to the eventual, 71-43 victory.
Fitzgerald was the game-high scorer, finishing with 20 points on 7-for-9 shooting in 15 minutes, going 2-for-2 from 3-point range, while adding five rebounds, four steals and two assists. Junior guard
Jenny Walton added 10 points in 10 minutes with two steals, while Badura had eight points, two rebounds, two steals and an assist in a season-best performance.
The win sets up another huge re-match against conference rival SUNY Cortland. SUNY New Paltz defeated the Red Dragons in the Hawk Center Jan. 20 to hand Cortland its only SUNYAC loss of the season. A series sweep with a win Saturday would put the Hawks one step closer to the top seed in the SUNYAC Tournament.
Tip-off Saturday is scheduled for 2 p.m.
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