Cortland, NY — Career-high's from both Brianna Fitzgerald and Morgan Hammell propelled a season-split of Cortland Tuesday night on the road for the State University of New York at New Paltz.
 
The Hawks (13-3 overall, 8-1 SUNYAC) had a dominant second quarter, built a 17-point halftime lead and withstood a Red Dragons second half run to claim an 80-72 victory to even the series and lift themselves to first place standing in the SUNYAC.
 
"No real adjustments [in the fourth quarter]," said SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward. "They have good players and we had to make a little more difficult for them to get to their comfort spots, which we did just enough to escape with the win."
 
The two teams went back-and-forth off the opening tip with the Hawks taking the early lead before six unanswered points pushed Cortland ahead for the first time early in the period. Morgan Hammell helped re-establish a slight 9-8 lead, hitting on a kick-out by Jenny Walton from the perimeter with five minutes to go.

After an and-1 trimmed the score to 16-12, Hammell answered once again from the arc hitting in nearly the same spot off a find from Brianna Fitzgerald to push the lead to 19-13 before the Red Dragons' Emily Morano connected at the hoop to get the difference down to 19-15 at the end of 10 minutes. SUNY New Paltz then opened up the game in the second quarter, out-scoring the Red Dragons 25-12 while shooting 48 percent from the field. Abby Korzekwinski got the stretch started, making back-to-back attempts on put-backs to push the lead to 29-20. Julia Sabatino then extended the lead to 10 on a made jumper with Fitzgerald piling on with a nice spin and finish in the lane to up the lead.
 
Fitzgerald got the job done on both ends, as she followed up the highlight finish with a charge call, stepping in the paint to draw the offensive foul on the Red Dragons' Abby Wilkinson to force the turnover, leading to Cortland's first timeout. Walton got in on the action, swishing a turnaround jumper at the elbow as the shot clock expired to up the score to 40-27 with less than a minute left.
 
SUNY New Paltz followed up with back-to-back baskets in the final seconds, as Walton found Fitzgerald open, splitting the double on the pass with Fitzgerald hitting on the mid-ranged jumper. Then, as time was expiring, the Hawks forced a miss from the Red Dragons and quickly pushed up the floor and found Semaiah Williams who hit at the buzzer to notch SUNY New Paltz its largest lead at 44-37.
 
Fitzgerald had already registered a double-double at the break with 11 points and 10 boards with the Hawks dominating in the paint, scoring 26 of their 44 first-half points in the lane while shooting nearly 56 percent from the field and out-rebounded Cortland, 23-13 to help in the 17-point cushion.
 
"We feel like we have a distinct size and athleticism advantage inside against them, and we did a better job tonight of exploiting that," Seward said.
 
The Red Dragons showed the type of team they were in the third quarter and came back to get within six entering the fourth. They out-scored SUNY New Paltz 25-14 and shot nearly 58 percent while making 4-for-5 from 3-point range.
 
"The third quarter was tough. They had a couple kids get hot. Woodis was incredible tonight, and with Jenny on the bench with four fouls the lineups we were playing left us a little more vulnerable to dribble penetration," Seward said. "And we also weren't finishing even though we were getting the shots we wanted. Sometimes that impacts our focus and effort on the defensive end. It's something we're trying to address, but it's human nature and fell victim to that during that stretch."  
After trimming the difference to six following a made 3 to end the third, the Hawks were the first to score to open up the fourth as Hammell stayed aggressive and got to the foul line.
 
Cortland kept the game within six, but SUNY New Paltz kept countering. Hammell stalled some momentum, catching and swishing from 3-point range off a cross-court pass by Sabatino to push the score to 65-56 with 6:39 left. The Red Dragons answered though next time down the floor with an and-1 by Brooke Tillotson, as Fitzgerald was called on her fourth of the game with still more than six minutes left.
 
Fitzgerald didn't miss a minute down the stretch though, playing with four fouls she stayed aggressive and stepped up as she does for her team. She immediately answered next time down the floor hitting on a pull-up jumper to extend the lead to eight once again. Lily Woodis answered with a corner 3, but Hammell quickly answered with a corner 3 of her own to re-up the eight-point advantage.
 
The Red Dragons cut the difference down to six twice with the Hawks answering each time before Jackie Funk created a five-point game, getting to the hoop and making both attempts at the foul line with 1:34 to play. The made free throws trimmed the score to 74-70 with Walton fouling out on the play.
 
SUNY New Paltz turned the ball over on the ensuing possession but regrouped defensively in the waning minute with Fitzgerald playing good defense despite the foul trouble. Red Dragons leading scorer Logan Streety picked up an offensive board, but Fitzgerald put enough pressure to create a tough put-back that rimmed out with Fitzgerald picking up the rebound.
 
Cortland forced Fitzgerald into a turnover with a trap in the backcourt but couldn't take advantage on the 2-on-1 as Emily Morano missed the point-blank shot. The Red Dragons kept possession and called a timeout with the ball underneath their own basket, but Morano couldn't knock down the look from behind the 3-point line. SUNY New Paltz jumped on the loose ball with Fitzgerald ripping possession out of the hands of Cortland's Sophie Bissaillon and forcing the Red Dragons to foul to stop the clock still down four.
 
Fitzgerald hit both attempts from the foul line to extend the lead to six with about 20 seconds left. SUNY New Paltz guarded the perimeter well and forced a long, contested attempt by Funk with Williams snatching the defensive board for the one-and-done possession. Sabatino and Fitzgerald then closed out the win at the foul line as they each made both attempts in the final 10 seconds to ice the win.
 
Fitzgerald showcased why she was an All-America selection. In a game that had potential No. 1 seeding on the line, the senior played one of her best games of the season. She finished with 28 points, made 10-for-12 from the foul line, grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds, while adding three assists, three steals and one block.  
 
"You just knew Bri was going to have that kind of night," Seward said. "That's who she is. If you look back throughout her career, against the better competition, she takes it to a different level."
 
Hammell was the team's second-leading scorer, as she broke out for a career game, posting a career-high 18 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field, including 4-for-6 from 3 and 4-for-4 from the foul line with three rebounds and an assist. Korzewkinski followed with 12 points (5-for-9) , five rebounds and a steal.
 
"Morgan played very well. We've been waiting for her to get back to playing aggressively like she did tonight. I was even thinking of getting the print shop to get us a couple "Wanted" posters, but she came back at a good time and did so resoundingly," Seward said. "We think Morgan is an all-conference level player, so it was good to see her bounce back from a little tough stretch and break out tonight."
 
SUNY New Paltz did well defensively as it limited Streety, who scored 23 points in Cortland's win in the Hawk Center on Jan. 9, to just eight points on 2-for-3 from the field. Tillotson and Woodis led the Red Dragons with a combined 37 points.
 
The Hawks ultimately out-rebounded Cortland, 40-31 in the game, including 14-9 on the offensive glass which proved as the difference.
 
SUNY New Paltz is back home Friday and Saturday as it returns to SUNYAC play, hosting Buffalo State and Fredonia, respectively in the Hawk Center at 5:30 p.m. and 2 p.m.

*****************
To stay up to date with everything #NPHawks be sure to follow us on Twitter at @nphawks, Instagram and Facebook at @newpaltzhawks, and subscribe to our Youtube channel, New Paltz Hawks.