New Paltz, NY — And, for the very last time, the Hawks are SUNYAC Champions.
In a decade of dominance, the State University of New York New Paltz finalized its last run in the SUNYAC by claiming its eighth conference championship Saturday afternoon in the Hawk Center by avenging last year's loss and dethroning reigning champs and No. 2 seed Cortland, 56-52.
"Very, very hard to put into words," said Hawks coach
Jamie Seward who has been at the helm for all eight titles in the last 19 seasons. "I've been in the SUNYAC a long time and [the SUNYAC trophy] is a nice parting gift to go out with. We'll leave the league to Cortland. They can go win now because it's been our league the last decade, so they can go have it now."
Top seeded SUNY New Paltz overcame an uneven outing in the semifinal round Friday, just pulling away from an upset ready Plattsburgh State team, 39-38 with a complete showing against a top 30 team in the Red Dragons Saturday to take the overall series after splitting the regular season. The Hawks kept Cortland to 2-for-14 from 3-point range and limited two of their top offensive threats in 5'10 guard Jackie Funk and 6'2 forward Joleen Lusk to a combined 16 points on six made baskets, while forcing 20 Red Dragon turnovers in the game.
"We knew we needed to shut down Lusk in the paint and then Jackie Funk obviously is a great shooter… I think we made her take really tough shots and we did have a few defensive miscommunications, either going under on screens or chasing, not being in deep, but I think we did a good job of fixing those quick today," said SUNY New Paltz senior forward
Karly Wittenbauer. "One missed play didn't become two or three and in a four-point game, that's the difference. Really, really proud of this group, just day-in and day-out, a lot of hard work defensively, so really proud of them."
Kaeli McAnally, who led the team with 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting on the night, gave Cortland a 12-10 lead entering the second quarter on a turnaround jumper as time expired. The Red Dragons held onto the lead until
Karly Wittenbauer ignited an 8-0 run to end the half.
Hannah Vanderzee re-took the advantage for the Hawks following a defensive stand with Vanderzee scoring again on a find from
Brianna Fitzgerald a minute later. Fitzgerald added two more in the final 90 seconds on two makes from the foul line before winning the ball back on a steal where she pushed up the floor to find
Sierra Carter on a fast-break bucket to create a 26-19 cushion at the break.
Gallery: (2-28-2026) Women's Basketball SUNYAC Championship
"I think defensively, it's just a testament of how gritty this team really is and at the end of the day, we always say we find a way to win," Fitzgerald said. "It's our defense that gives us momentum. It fuels us to then go attack and play smart offensively. And in a game, especially when you have a lot of young players, a lot of inexperience, it's difficult… but that's why our team is so good, because we play so well together. We come together at any point of the game and we're able to fix things on the fly. Offensively, defensively, we're always able to stay on the same page and that's why we've won 25 games this season."
The momentum carried into the second half and although Cortland hovered around a one-possession game, SUNY New Paltz never let the Red Dragons back in.
Fitzgerald matched an and-1 from McAnally with an and-1 on the other side of the floor to keep SUNY New Paltz's six-point advantage. Fitzgerald got her hands on a steal in the last three minutes with Vanderzee the beneficiary, scoring two on a dish from Wittenbauer to create a nine-point margin. Fitzgerald re-upped that nine-point difference a minute later on two made free throws, but the Red Dragons brought the score down to 39-34 with less than a minute to go. However,
Macie Perry made sure to add one last bucket for the Hawks before the fourth, making a nice move on the block to get her hook shot to go to push the score to 41-34.
Perry came through with an offensive board off her own miss to begin the fourth, which led to a 3-pointer from Fitzgerald to lift the home crowd. The two teams went back-and-forth after Cortland trimmed the score to two on a Lusk made jumper, as Fitzgerald answered with a pull up jump shot on the other end. Brooke Tillotson added two from the foul line to work the score, 50-48 with three minutes left, but Vanderzee immediately capitalized offensively to build back a two-possession advantage.
SUNY New Paltz anchored down and got back-to-back stops defensively with Perry, Wittenbauer and Carter each pulling down defensive boards to make sure the Red Dragons were kept at a one-and-done offensive set.
Perry provided 29 key minutes in her first championship game. She added another highlight play late in the game with a big block on the perimeter, closing in on a Funk 3-pointer to keep the lead to five with 36 seconds left.
"She was plus-14, made a huge basket at the end of the quarter, a big block late in the game. She just played well, defended well," Seward said of Perry. "Sierra played 40 minutes and didn't turn the ball over once and had a huge play, to me when I knew we were winning the game. They were trying to pick on her a little bit, trying to move the ball inside and she moved her feet, stole the ball — got trampled and still ended up with the ball and getting it out of there, and I was like, 'we're not losing the game at that point.'"
Tillotson earned another trip to the foul line to cut the score, 53-50 with 31.5 seconds left. After a made foul shot from Wittenbauer, McAnally drove to the hoop and finished to trim the lead, 54-52 with about 19 seconds to go. Cortland began to intentionally foul to try and slow down the game with Fitzgerald hitting 1-of-2 from the line and pushing the Hawks up by three.
The Red Dragons had the chance to hold for the final possession of regulation with about 19 seconds running and no timeouts left. The Hawk Center crowd livened as Cortland brought the ball up the floor and the raucous gym began counting down the clock early, seemingly rushing the last shot by Funk who heaved up a 3-point attempt that went off the mark. Wittenbauer secured the board and with six seconds left was put back on the line. She made just one more, all the Hawks needed, to ice the win and the SUNYAC title.
"Insane atmosphere to play in," Wittenbauer said. "This is the hardest working team in the conference. There's no doubt about that. I guess 6 p.m., 6 a.m. — maybe 6 p.m. is a little better I don't know. But really, really proud of this team."
Wittenbauer finished with nine points, five boards, two assists and two steals in 35 minutes and was named All-Tournament team, alongside Vanderzee who was the team's second leading scorer behind Fitzgerald. The junior was huge on both side of the floor, connecting on 7-for-11 from the field and providing an assist, a block and a steal with 14 points. Fitzgerald, the SUNYAC Tournament MVP for the third time in her career, led the game with 21 points, six rebounds, four assists, three blocks and four steals.
After a long journey back from a season-ending knee injury a year ago, Fitzgerald soaked in the moment with her teammates and Seward whom she's played under for the last six years.
"It's special. It's very special," Fitzgerald said. "With all the doubts of coming back from the injury and just coming back with a really young group, I couldn't be more thankful of this group of girls I was able to play with. It's been amazing to watch them grow throughout the entirety of the season. I've seen them put their full trust in me from the very start and just stick with me no matter what. No matter how hard I am on them during practice, they know it's intentional. We essentially had a plan, and this was the plan. This is what we wanted to do all along."
The championship victory also guaranteed the Hawks a spot in the national tournament for the ninth time in program history, including the fourth in the last five years. The NCAA selection show is set for Monday at 2:30 p.m. with SUNY New Paltz awaiting who is next as it looks to extend on its current 17-game winning streak.
All-Tournament Team:
Brianna Fitzgerald - New Paltz (MVP)
Hannah Vanderzee - New Paltz
Karly Wittenbauer - New Paltz
Brooke Tillotson - Cortland
Kaeli McAnally - Cortland
Julia Greek - Plattsburgh
Post-Game Presser: SUNY New Paltz
featuring (from left) Sierra Carter, Karly Wittenbauer, Hannah Vanderzee, Brianna Fitzgerald & coach Jamie Seward
Post-Game Presser: Cortland
featuring (from left) Brooke Tillotson, coach Colleen Ames, Kaeli McAnally
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