New Paltz, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz earned a 66-44 win over Canton Tuesday night in the Hawk Center, handing the visiting Roos just their second loss of the season.
 
A physical game from the opening tip, both teams were in foul trouble early with Canton star forward Kat Taru-McRobbie suffering three personal fouls within the first 13 minutes of the game, and ultimately fouling out with seven minutes remaining in the contest, limiting her to just 19 minutes on the floor. Without her size inside, the Roos struggled finding their rhythm offensively against a swarming Hawks defense that limited their opposition to just 22.4 percent shooting on 15 made baskets.
 
The game was tight to start with Canton holding the slight advantage before Kayden Cornell came off the bench and stepped into a straight-on 3-pointer that gave SUNY New Paltz its first lead of the game midway through the first. The Roos countered with a quick 3-pointer on the other end, one of their four made triples of the game off 20 attempts. Summer Perry then swished from behind the arc before Canton answered once more with a triple on the other end, which marked the visitors last lead of the game.
 
SUNY New Paltz ended the first quarter on a 6-0 run to gain a six-point advantage entering the second period. Cornell knocked down another trey midway through the stanza off a dish from Brianna Fitzgerald, which pushed the Hawks to their first double-digit lead of the game. The hosts maintained the comfortable advantage down the stretch. Sierra Carter helped SUNY New Paltz to its largest lead of the half at 35-21, running the floor following a steal by Hannah Vanderzee on the defensive end with Vanderzee also picking up the assist on the play.  
Canton got within 12 to end the half, but the Hawks continued finding mismatches and built upon their cushion in the second. Karly Wittenbauer caught and swished on a pass from Fitzgerald from the perimeter to bring the lead to 15 with about four minutes left in the third and although the Roos worked back to within 10 thanks to consecutive trips to the foul line, Vanderzee and Cornell re-upped the 15-point margin to end the period. Cornell first assisted Vanderzee underneath for an and-1 and with seconds remaining, Vanderzee found Cornell running the floor off a defensive rebound and the freshman pulled up from behind mid-court and drained the buzzer-beater to extend her team's advantage, 48-33 entering the fourth.
 
SUNY New Paltz rolled through the fourth, efficiently scoring 18 points in the quarter on 8-for-10 shooting from the floor to build a 20-point lead and pick up its 10th win of the season.
 
Wittenbauer led all scorers with 18 points in 35 minutes, adding eight rebounds, an assist, three blocks and a steal. Vanderzee was the x-factor, however, doing a little bit of everything in 34 minutes. She finished with 12 points on 6-for-12 shooting, picked up a career-high 14 rebounds with a game-high six assists and five steals, also all season-highs for the junior. Cornell was the only other Hawk in double-figure points, ending with 11 off the bench after going a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor including 3-for-3 from 3-point range. Fitzgerald, who also battled through late foul trouble, ended with nine points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals in 30 minutes.
 
The Hawks improved to 10-2 overall and 4-1 in the SUNYAC, while Canton dropped to 11-2 and 4-2, respectively.
 
SUNY New Paltz resumes SUNYAC action this weekend, going on the road to face Fredonia Friday night at 5:30 p.m. and Buffalo State Saturday at 1 p.m.


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