Box Score 

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team clinched its spot as the No. 2 seed in the 2017 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Tournament on Saturday afternoon as the Hawks downed visiting SUNY Potsdam, 85-53, in their home and regular season finale in the Hawk Center.

The Hawks conclude the regular season, 16-8, 13-5 SUNYAC and will receive a bye week heading into the SUNYAC Tournament. New Paltz will play the winner of the No. 3 seed SUNY Oneonta/No. 6 seed The College at Brockport game on Friday, Feb. 24 at 5:30 p.m. at host No. 1 seed SUNY Geneseo.

Prior to today's contest, New Paltz celebrated the careers of its three seniors: guard/forward Kit Small (Slingerlands, N.Y./Academy of the Holy Names), guard/forward Morgan Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) and forward Courtney Irby (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale).

The Hawks stuffed the stat sheet with five individual players recording double-digit figures. Sophomore Lindsay Bettke (Pelham, N.Y./The Ursuline School) paced the New Paltz offense with 22 points, going 8-of-12 from the field and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, while Irby collected 14 points and three steals. Small and freshman guard Paige Niemeyer (North Chatham, N.Y./Ichabod Crane) added 10 points each while Roessler notched a double-double 10 points and 11 boards.

For Potsdam, senior guard Abbey LaPage recorded 12 points off the bench while freshman guard Drew Dufrane added 10 points. Defensively, senior forward Patti Dorgler pulled down a team-high nine boards for the Bears.

At the conclusion of the first quarter, New Paltz held an 18-14 advantage before outscoring the Bears, 25-14, in the second period for a large 43-27 margin at halftime. Despite Potsdam's best efforts to chip away the deficit in the second half of the game, the Hawks could not be stopped as the clock ran down to seal the final 85-53 tally.