ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Despite holding a six-point lead with 2:17 to go in regulation, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team (0-3) was unable to come out on top in the third-place game of the Chuck Resler Tournament hosted by the University of Rochester, falling to Wittenberg University (1-2) by a 65-62 final.

Following the conclusion of the game, senior point guard Kaitlin Clifford (Staten Island, N.Y./Curtis) was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Senior forward Shanay Bradley (Bronx, N.Y./New Explorers) pushed the Hawk advantage out to six with 2:17 left in the second half, but the Tigers ended the game on a 9-0 run to seize the come-from-behind victory. Wittenberg's Enri Small started the rally by making the first of two free throws at 2:04 of the second half, and teammate Kim Replogle corralled the rebound after Small's missed second shot. Replogle then connected on a jumper to bring Wittenberg within three.

After New Paltz missed a three-pointer, Small grabbed the rebound and wound up converting on the other end, trimming the margin to one. A costly turnover gave Wittenberg the ball back with 41 seconds left, and the Tiger bench called a timeout with 32 ticks remaining. As the shot clock wound down, Amber Lara made a layup with 15 second remaining, and the Hawks missed a field goal on the other end with one second left on the clock. Wittenberg made both free throws after a foul, and junior guard Maliqua Fisher (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) came up just short on a three-pointer as the buzzer sounded.

Junior guard Kahsyrah Bryant (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) scored the game's first five points, leading a 12-4 New Paltz run to open the contest. The Tigers would charge back, though, and a pair of made free throws by Lyndsey Clark knotted the tally at 16-all.

New Paltz went on a 9-2 spurt that spanned three minutes, and during that stretch, Clifford dropped in six points. The Tigers scored four straight to come within one, but New Paltz countered by scoring nine of the half's final 13 points and entered the intermission with a 34-28 lead.

Both teams battled back and forth for much of the second half, with the Hawks staving off Wittenberg's attempts to capture the momentum. Clark's made jumper at 7:22 of the second half gave the Tigers their first lead of the afternoon at 50-49, but Fisher put the Hawks back on top by knocking down both of her free-throw attempts. Wittenberg took control of the edge twice more before New Paltz erupted for a 9-1 run, during which Fisher scored three points. Bradley capped the rally with a layup at 2:17 of the second half to put the Hawks up by six.

The difference came on the boards, as Wittenberg outrebounded New Paltz by a 44-26 edge. The Hawks, however, caused problems defensively for the Tigers, as Wittenberg turned the ball over 21 times. The Tigers shot 46.8 percent (22-of-47) from the floor, while the Hawks shot 37.3 percent (22-of-59) from the field.

Clifford keyed a balanced New Paltz attack with a game-high 15 points off 6-of-12 shooting from the floor and 3-of-5 shooting from the charity stripe. Fisher added 13 points, while Bryant had eight. Clifford boasted the game-high in assists with four, and senior guard Caitlin Irwin (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) posted a game-high four steals.

For Wittenberg, three players reached double figures, with Replogle leading the way with 13. She completed the double-double by also pulling down a game-high 10 rebounds.

New Paltz returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 22, as it travels to Wayne, N.J., to square off with No. 4 William Paterson University at 7:30 p.m. in a non-conference game.