Fredonia, NY — The State University of New York New Paltz grabbed its third-straight victory and improved to 5-1 in SUNYAC play after earning a 65-51 road win over Fredonia Friday night.
The Blue Devils (8-5 overall, 3-3 SUNYAC) took the early lead as they built a 15-10 cushion after the first quarter, but the Hawks began settling in and buckling down defensively to swing momentum and start establishing a comfortable double-figure advantage in the second half.
SUNY New Paltz swung the game in the second quarter, as a pair of made free throws by
Brianna Fitzgerald gave the Hawks their first lead of the period just three minutes in. SUNY New Paltz went on a 16-0 run for a six-minute stretch to re-take control. The stanza stemmed off its stereotypical suffocating defense as Fredonia turned the ball over seven times with 12 missed shots on 13 attempts as the Hawks out-scored the hosts, 25-5 in the period to aid in a 35-20 cushion at the break.
Fredonia was forced to take a timeout following a look from
Karly Wittenbauer to Fitzgerald cutting to the hoop, which extended SUNY New Paltz's lead, 24-19. The break didn't help matters for the Blue Devils, throwing the ball away on their very next possession. In turn, the Hawks upped their lead to seven following a made turn-around jumper off glass by Wittenbauer.
SUNY New Paltz kept working inside built off great ball movement and scored six of its next 11 points in the paint to aid in the 15-point advantage at the break with the Blue Devils earning back a point in the final seconds on a made free throw that cut into the Hawks' largest lead of the half.
Fredonia never overcame a dominant SUNY New Paltz second quarter, however, as the Hawks continued stacking on top of their advantage in the opening minutes of the third. They took their largest lead of 17 following a steal and fast-break bucket by
Hannah Vanderzee to open up the final 20 minutes.
But the Blue Devils were resilient, never going away, they took advantage of SUNY New Paltz's cold hand in the final minutes of the fourth. A turnover on a travel call turned into a four-point swing for Fredonia as it worked its way inside to get within nine halfway through the period. Fitzgerald quickly re-upped the double-digit cushion, scoring underneath which was followed by a timeout from Hawks coach
Jamie Seward with 5:09 to go. The stoppage regrouped the team and the Hawks held off Fredonia down the stretch with Wittenbauer and Fitzgerald sustaining the offense to allow their team to hold on for the win.
Wittenbauer was the catalyst, scoring a career-high 21 points on 9-for-19 shooting with nine rebounds, just a board away from her third double-double of the year, while adding an assist, a block and two steals. Fitzgerald followed with 20 points on 7-for-15 shooting and 6-for-8 from the foul line with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Vanderzee and
Sierra Carter were the only other Hawks in double-figure scoring, totaling 12 and 10 points, respectively, with each recording five rebounds, two blocks and four assists, respectively.
SUNY New Paltz returns to SUNYAC action Saturday, traveling to Buffalo to take on the Bengals of Buffalo State at 1 p.m.
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