OSWEGO, N.Y. – After trailing, 30-19, at halftime, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team (6-7, 4-2 SUNYAC) scored 47 second-half points thanks to a 21-of-31 (67.7 percent) performance from the floor in the final 20 minutes of play, downing SUNY Oswego (8-5, 3-3 SUNYAC) by a count of 66-53 in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) game on Friday night at Max Ziel Gymnasium.

Despite a 23.5 percent (4-of-17) outing at the free-throw line, the Hawks overcame that statistic by shooting lights-out from the field in the second half. While the New Paltz shots kept falling in the second stanza, the Lakers were unable to sustain momentum, as they shot just 28.6 percent (6-of-21) in the second half. For the game, New Paltz shot 50.9 percent from the floor (29-of-57), while Oswego shot 33.3 percent (16-of-48).

The Hawks dominated the glass, too, holding a 43-25 edge in boards, and the Lakers committed 20 turnovers to New Paltz's 19. New Paltz scored 25 second-chance points as a result of its dominance in the rebounding column, and the Hawks scored 40 points in the paint.

While New Paltz scored the first four points of the game, Oswego countered by going on a 6-0 run followed by a 9-3 spurt, and a three-pointer by Kari Kipper pushed the Laker advantage to 17-10, forcing the Hawk bench to call a timeout. Oswego continued to widen the gap, and after Kipper converted on a layup in the paint with 43 seconds to play in the first half, the Lakers would solidify the halftime score of 30-19.

The Hawks came out firing early in the second half, as senior point guard Kaitlin Clifford (Staten Island, N.Y./Curtis) scored the first two points of the stanza, while junior guard Maliqua Fisher (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) trimmed the deficit to seven with a layup on the ensuing offensive possession. Lauren Nunziato gave the Lakers a double-digit lead once again at 17:12 of the second half, but Clifford answered right back with a trey. New Paltz went on a 13-0 run midway through the period, which was capped by a layup from senior forward Shanay Bradley (Bronx, N.Y./New Explorers) at 9:23 of the second half.

The Lakers stayed within striking distance, though, as they whittled the deficit to three on the three occasions. Fisher scored eight of her 16 points on a 13-1 New Paltz run toward the tail end of regulation, and her layup at 2:12 of the second half gave the Hawks a commanding 15-point lead at 64-49. That ended up being the largest advantage of the night, and it was equaled by Bradley a minute later.

Bradley led the Hawk attack with 17 points, 14 of which came in the second half, and also corralled a game-high 14 rebounds. Fisher also reached double figures with 16 points off 8-of-10 shooting from the floor and 1-of-4 shooting from the free-throw line and added a game-high three steals. Senior guard Caitlin Irwin (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) helped facilitate the offense with a game-high five assists.

For Oswego, Kayla Ryan dropped in a game-high 18 points off 5-of-9 shooting from the field and 7-of-10 shooting from the free-throw line. Nunziato joined Ryan in double figures with 12 points, while each held a share of the team-high in assists with three. Kipper pulled down a team-high five rebounds, while Meagan Stover recorded a game-high two blocks.

New Paltz, which is riding a three-game win streak, finishes out its three-game road swing tomorrow afternoon, as it takes on SUNY Cortland at 2 p.m. in Cortland, N.Y.