ONEONTA, N.Y.—Junior Madison Slagle (Rome, Rome Catholic) scored 17 points to lead three players in double figures as SUNY Oneonta pulled away from visiting New Paltz down the stretch to win its regular season finale. Oneonta (19-6/13-5) will now have to wait for all games in the SUNYAC to be final tomorrow before they know where they will be seeded and who they will be hosting next Tuesday night in the conference tournament quarterfinals. The Red Dragons could be seeded as high as No. 2 or as low as No. 4 depending on how Cortland makes out with its two games this weekend.

Oneonta trailed 28-26 at halftime and stormed out of the locker room 11-2 run to seize the lead. A jumper by junior Samantha Szkotak (New York Mills, New York Mills) gave the Red Dragons its largest lead of the game at 37-28.

Oneonta still had a seven-point lead with 11:23 to go before the Hawks began to claw their way back into the contest. A 7-2 run cut Oneonta's lead to 46-44 at the 9:21 mark. New Paltz continued its surge and actually took a 51-50 lead on a steal and lay-up by Kaitlin Cilfford with 6:54 to go.

With the score tied at 53 apiece, a pair of free throws by Szkotak gave the Red Dragons a lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the way. Down the stretch Oneonta pulled away on the strength of free throws and some key shots.

After a 2-0 lead by Oneonta to start the game, the Hawks ran off nine unanswered to take a 9-2 lead. Oneonta battled back to tie the game at 9 apiece at the 12:07 mark on a basket by freshman Grace Schilling (Northport, Northport).

With the scored tied at 15, Oneonta put together a 9-2 run of its own to take a 24-17 lead with 4:25 remaining in the first half. New Paltz countered with nine straight points to regain the lead, which they took into halftime.

New Paltz was led by sophomore Maliqua Fisher, who had a game high 20 points.

Senior Erika Puffer (Unadilla, Unatego) scored 10 points and freshman Kristin Pappalardo (Mahopac, Lakeland) added 10 points to round out the double-digit scorers for Oneonta.

Newspaper Box Score
ONEONTA STATE 71, NEW PALTZ 61

NEW PALTZ (15-10/13-5)
FISHER, Maliqua 3-4 14-16 20; MCCULLOUGH, Alex 5-13 1-2 13; COHEN, Zoe 3-9 3-3 10; BRYANT, Kahsyrah 3-9 4-6 10; CLIFFORD, Kaitlin 1-9 1-2 3; BRADLEY, Shanay 1-2 0-0 2; IRWIN, Caitlin 0-3 2-2 2; GROVER, Bridget 0-1 1-2 1; SCOTT, Jeanette 0-0 0-0 0; DELGAUDIO, Samantha 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-51 26-33 61.

ONEONTA STATE (19-6/13-5)
SLAGLE, Madison 6-13 4-4 17; PUFFER, Erika 3-6 4-6 10; PAPPALARDO, Kristin 3-7 4-5 10; SZKOTAK, Samantha 3-6 4-4 10; SCHILLING, Grace 1-2 5-6 7; O'CONNELL, Mary Kate 3-8 0-0 6; REGAN, Gabi 2-2 0-0 4; BUCCI, Rebecca 0-3 4-6 4; WILVERDING, Kate 1-1 0-0 3; MULLIGAN, Kelly 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-50 25-31 71.

3-point goals--New Paltz 3-18 (MCCULLOUGH, Alex 2-7; COHEN, Zoe 1-4; CLIFFORD, Kaitlin 0-4; IRWIN, Caitlin 0-2; BRYANT, Kahsyrah 0-1), Oneonta State 2-13 (SLAGLE, Madison 1-5; WILVERDING, Kate 1-1; PAPPALARDO, Kristin 0-1; SZKOTAK, Samantha 0-2; BUCCI, Rebecca 0-3; MULLIGAN, Kelly 0-1).

Fouled out--New Paltz-IRWIN, Caitlin, Oneonta State-None.

Rebounds--New Paltz 37 (MCCULLOUGH, Alex 6), Oneonta State 32 (O'CONNELL, Mary Kate 7).

Assists--New Paltz 9 (IRWIN, Caitlin 4), Oneonta State 15 (SZKOTAK, Samantha 5).

Total fouls--New Paltz 26, Oneonta State 21.

Technical fouls—New Paltz-None, Oneonta State-None.

A-136