POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – Despite trailing 21-14 after one quarter of play, the women's basketball team at the State University of New York at New Paltz battled back and hung on for a 74-71 season-opening win at Hudson River rival Vassar on Tuesday evening.

In the victory, senior guard/forward Kit Small (Slingerlands, NY/Academy of the Holy Names) scored a game-high 22 points behind 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 10-of-14 shooting from the foul line. Small needs just five points to surpass 1,000 in her career as the Hawks (1-0) will head to Rochester this weekend in the Chuck Resler Tournament.

Senior forward Courtney Irby (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) enjoyed a double-double to begin the year, scoring 16 points and hauling in 11 boards. Freshman forward Paige Niemeyer (North Chatham, NY/Ichabod Crane) contributed 15 points, including eight from the charity stripe, off the bench.

Three Brewers (0-1) finished in double figures with Sophie Nick tallying a team-best 18 points. For the game, the Hawks were outrebounded 49-30 but were able to force 29 turnovers, scoring 28 points off the Vassar mistakes.

New Paltz enjoyed a slim 27-26 lead at halftime as the Hawks allowed just five points in the second quarter. Small, Irby and Niemeyer all scored in double figures in just the second half alone and combined to go 14-of-23 from the foul line during this time to close out the game.

In the waning seconds, Vassar was able to hoist a desperation three-pointer which would have sent the game to overtime but the shot clanked off the iron as New Paltz held on for the non-conference win.