NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team (9-7, 7-2 SUNYAC) defeated conference foe SUNY Geneseo (10-6, 5-4 SUNYAC) Saturday afternoon, 57-47, at the Hawk Center. In doing so, the Hawks extended their win streak to six games, including a five-game win streak in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC).

Senior guard Caitlin Irwin (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) led the Hawk charge with 13 points and five assists while also controlling five rebounds. Senior forward Shanay Bradley (Bronx, N.Y./New Explorers) led all players with nine rebounds and three blocks, in addition to contributing 11 points to the winning effort. Junior forward Alex McCullough (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) and senior point guard Kaitlin Clifford (Staten Island, N.Y./Curtis) chipped in with 10 points each.

For the Blue Knights, Shannon McGinnis led all scorers with 14 points, with Lea Sobieraski adding 10 points for Geneseo. Both McGinnis and Sobieraski led their team with six rebounds each. Bri Dunton stole possession from the Hawks three times, while both Dunton and Melissa Graham each achieved three assists.

Geneseo had trouble possessing the ball in the first half, as New Paltz pressured Geneseo into 20 first-half turnovers, scoring 19 points off those takeaways. The turnovers started early in the first half, as both teams turned the ball over once before the opening score, a layup by Clifford at 18:41 in the first half. The teams traded turnovers again before a three-pointer by Irwin gave the Hawks a five-point lead. Geneseo responded with jumpers by Graham and Dunton before a three-pointer by Meghan Prue gave Geneseo its only lead of the afternoon, 7-5, with 15:27 to go in the first half.

Clifford tied the game with a layup at 14:03, and a shot beyond the arc soon after by senior guard Zoe Cohen (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Berkeley Carroll School) started New Paltz's second and final lead. The Hawks managed to pull away, thanks in part to their points off turnovers, and owned a 33-18 lead going into the break.

New Paltz extended the lead to a game-high 19-point margin with early second-half buckets by McCullough and Bradley. The lead fluctuated for the remainder of the second half, but the Blue Knights could not manage to make the game any closer than a three possession deficit.

New Paltz finished the day shooting 30.4 percent (21-of-69) while going 6-of-19 from long range for a 31.6 percent clip. Geneseo's percentage finished higher than the Hawks', hitting 36.2 percent of its shots on a 17-of-47 shooting day. The Blue Knights only managed to hit three of their 13 three-point attempts, a 23.1 percent effort.

The winter intersession has reached its final days, but the Hawks' trek through SUNYAC play is just reaching its midway point. New Paltz embarks on a two-day SUNYAC road trip, beginning Friday, Jan. 27, at Buffalo State at 6 p.m. The Hawks then travel 50 miles southwest to take on SUNY Fredonia on Saturday, Jan. 28, at 2 p.m.