Bronx, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz bounced back from its first loss of the season, which came on the road against No. 1 nationally ranked NYU last Saturday, to roll to an 81-41 road victory over Mount Saint Vincent Tuesday night.
The Hawks improved to 4-1 overall, while the Dolphins dropped to 1-4. SUNY New Paltz was highlighted by its bench, which totaled more than half of the team's points, backed by a pair of career-highs from freshman guard
Deanna Barry and sophomore guard
Grace Koehler. The two Highland High School alums combined for 28 points in 18 and 16 minutes off the bench, respectively.
The Hawks never trailed in the game and after MSMV got within two midway through the first quarter,
Brianna Fitzgerald and Barry hit on back-to-back 3-pointers to quickly extend the cushion to eight at 13-5.
Sierra Carter re-established the eight-point cushion to end the period on two made free throws to push SUNY New Paltz ahead, 17-9 entering the second.
Fitzgerald officially gave the Hawks their first double-digit lead, running the floor and scoring a transition bucket off a steal by
Hannah Vanderzee. SUNY New Paltz's defense then took over from there, as
Karly Wittenbauer picked up consecutive steals, leading to fastbreak points from Vanderzee and
Kayden Cornell with the latter hitting from distance to balloon the difference to 15 two minutes into the quarter.
The Hawks limited the Dolphins to just two made baskets for the remainder of the half, allowing them to roll with Barry getting hot from the perimeter, making three of her six made triples in the seven-minute stretch to end the half. Wittenbauer snatched one last steal before the break and became the beneficiary on the ensuing possession with Barry finding the senior in the paint for two to extend the SUNY New Paltz advantage, 42-20 entering the third.
The second half was all Hawks, as their defense continued playing stingy to help boost the lead to 30-plus entering the fourth before finalizing the 40-point win.
Mount Saint Vincent made 13 shots in the game and only seven in the second half after shooting 26.5 percent from the field in the game. The hosts got to the foul line 29 times but connected on just 14 to finish less than 50 percent from the charity stripe.
SUNY New Paltz scored a season-high in the game with nine different players registering at least a point in the victory. Barry was the catalyst, finishing with 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field with all her makes coming from behind the arc. Fitzgerald finished with 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting, adding three rebounds, four assists and five steals in 16 minutes. Koehler followed with 10 points and three rebounds in the outing. Wittenbauer pitched in with nine points, six boards, three assists and game-high six steals in 28 minutes off the bench.
The Hawks resume action next week, starting conference play at home against SUNY Oneonta Dec. 5 in the Hawk Center at 5:30 p.m.
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