NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – On the strength of a career-high 11 points from junior guard Kahsyrah Bryant (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon), the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team (1-4) gained its first victory of the season with a 62-50 win over the Stevens Institute of Technology (2-4) on Tuesday night in non-conference play at the Hawk Center. It marked the Hawks' first home tilt of the 2011-12 campaign.

The Hawks led by as many as 20 points during the contest while maintaining a double-digit lead from 12:05 of the first half on through the remainder of the game. The Ducks held the lead only once, last outscoring the Hawks by a margin of 5-4 until senior point guard Kaitlin Clifford (Staten Island, N.Y./Curtis) hit a jumper at 16:12 of the first half to go up 6-5. New Paltz outshot Stevens, hitting 37.1 percent (23-of-62) of its shots from the field, compared to Stevens' 34.1 percent (15-of-44) clip.

Bryant led New Paltz's scoring attack with her 11 points, shooting 4-of-9 from the floor and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. Also scoring in double figures for the Hawks was Clifford, netting 10 points on a 3-of-3 shooting night while also going a perfect 3-of-3 from the charity stripe. Senior forward Shanay Bradley (Bronx, N.Y./New Explorers) brought down a team-high seven rebounds while also contributing a game-high three blocks.

Stevens' Jillian Barrett led all players with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the game. Avis Benjamin and Dawn Garcia also contributed 10 points each. Molly Spadaro and Garcia tied for the team-high in assists with three apiece, while Garcia added four steals to her balanced line.

New Paltz opened the game with a jumper from junior guard Maliqua Fisher (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon). Stevens responded with a 5-0 scoring run on the strength of three made Benjamin free-throws sandwiched around a bucket from Jen Thompson. From that point, New Paltz went on a 29-6 run to blow the contest open, giving the Hawks a 20-point lead, 31-11, with 3:32 remaining in the first stanza. Bryant scored nine of her 11 points during this time frame.

From that point, the closest Stevens was able to get was within 11 points, with 1:53 remaining in regulation. Whenever the Ducks would make a run, such as the first two minutes of the second half when Barrett hit two layups to bring the Hawk lead down to 12, the Hawks responded. In that situation, New Paltz's next possession finished with a conventional three-point play by senior guard Caitlin Irwin (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney), getting fouled on a successful layup attempt and hitting the continuation free throw. The Hawks built their lead back to as high as 18 multiple times in the second half, never allowing the Ducks to get within striking distance.

New Paltz continues its five-game home stand on Friday, Dec. 2, when the Hawks begin conference play, taking on SUNY Fredonia at 6 p.m. at the Hawk Center.