Cortland, NY — In arguably the biggest game of the regular season thus far, playing against one of the top teams in the conference, Brianna Fitzgerald had a career game.
 
Becoming just the sixth Hawk ever to join the 30-point club, the junior from Dix Hills, NY galvanized the State University of New York at New Paltz Saturday with a 31-point, seven-rebound, four-assist performance to help her team to a statement, 64-46 victory on the road over SUNY Cortland. The win lines the Hawks up for the top seed in the SUNYAC Tournament after earning the regular season sweep of the Red Dragons, while staying unbeaten in SUNYAC play and extending their winning streak to 15 games.  
 
"Not trying to take away from her performance whatsoever because she was outstanding, but to be completely honest that type of performance is exactly what I expect from her," said SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward. "But yeah, she was really, really good."
 
The Hawks (18-3 overall, 15-0 SUNYAC) never trailed in the game and like they had done Friday night in a rout of Oswego State, got out to an 11-0 run to open up the matchup. Fitzgerald gave SUNY New Paltz its largest lead of the quarter after sinking a 3-pointer to boost the lead to 14-2 with 3:30 to play, but the Red Dragons finished the period strong, going on a 5-0 stretch to shorten the deficit to six entering the second quarter.
 
Fitzgerald created another 12-point cushion for the Hawks, knocking down a mid-ranged jumper before finishing in the paint two possessions later. She then won the ball back on a steal and capitalized with two more in the paint to push the score to 22-10.
 
SUNY New Paltz flexed a 14-point advantage twice in the second including with about 2:45 remaining on two made free throws by Victoria Venus. Cortland cut the score down to 34-25 at the half however, as Sarah Tully tallied five-straight points in the final two minutes.  
The Hawks maintained a double-figure lead throughout the third quarter with an and-1 by Graci Serravillo giving them their largest advantage at 48-32. SUNY New Paltz then closed out in the fourth, holding the Red Dragons to just eight points in the quarter on 3-for-20 shooting from the floor.
 
As a team, SUNY New Paltz shot just less than 40 percent from the field with three made shots from the perimeter but was dominant in the paint, scoring 36 of their points under the hoop while earning 15 trips to the foul line, making 13. Defensively, the Hawks had one of their signature outings, forcing 18 turnovers and holding Cortland without a single scorer in double figures as the hosts shot just 27.3 percent in the contest.
 
"Defensively they are tough," Seward said. "Our guards with their pressure on the ball and aggressive play off ball, they'll take the teeth right out of your mouth. And Abby [Korzekwinski] and Bri's ability to both defend the inside and out, so between that and the toughness of our guards we can genuinely switch one through five without needing a ton of help, which makes [us] tough to play against and obviously tough to score against."
 
The Hawks out-rebounded the Red Dragons, 46-31 on the day with Korzekwinski a big reason for that stat, as the junior forward tallied her second double-double on the season while tying a career-high in rebounds finishing with 10 points and 13 boards.
 
SUNY New Paltz returns home for its last two regular season games in the Hawk Center Feb. 10 and 11, facing SUNY Brockport and SUNY Geneseo with the latter Senior Day, as the Hawks celebrate their 2023 class prior to the game, while Friday's game holds extra significance as they not only play a perennial rival in the visiting Knights, but another win would give Seward his 300th of his career. If he achieves the mark, he'd become just the second coach ever in SUNYAC Women's Basketball history to reach the 300-career win threshold. 

Tip-off is scheduled for Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the Hawk Center. 

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