NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Despite trailing at the half for the first time in eight games, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team (14-8, 12-3 SUNYAC) rallied Friday evening at the Hawk Center to defeat State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) opponent SUNY Cortland (13-8, 8-6 SUNYAC), 73-62, during "Think Pink Night."

Cortland led New Paltz by a score of 29-25 after one half, but the Hawks won the second-half scoring battle in spades, outscoring the Red Dragons by a 48-33 margin in the second stanza. The last time the Hawks had trailed at halftime was against the very same Red Dragon team on Jan. 14. That afternoon, New Paltz also rebounded from a halftime deficit (three points) to win, 68-60.

With the victory, the Hawks clinch a top-four seed in the 2012 SUNYAC Women's Basketball Championship Tournament, ensuring New Paltz a home game in the first round of the tournament.

Junior forward Alex McCullough (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) led the Hawk scoring charge with 18 points while also tying a game-high with two blocks. She was joined by four other New Paltz players in scoring double-digit points: junior guard Maliqua Fisher (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) and senior guard Zoe Cohen (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Berkeley Carroll School) each scored 12 points, with senior guard Caitlin Irwin (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney) and senior forward Shanay Bradley (Bronx, N.Y./New Explorers) contributing 11 points apiece. Irwin tied a game-high with seven assists, with Fisher also bringing down a game-high nine rebounds.

On the Cortland side of the ball, Brittany Cohen led all scorers with 23 points and also tied Irwin with seven assists. Lindsay Minor filled the stat sheet by collecting 11 points, two rebounds, two blocks, two steals and one assist. Molly Berne also stole away three Hawk possessions.

New Paltz battled its way to an early 6-0 lead in the first three minutes of play off of two Fisher layups and a jumper by McCullough. The Hawks were able to maintain a two or three possession lead until Cortland made a run with 8:35 remaining in the first half. Ally Biordi hit a jumper to lower the Red Dragon deficit to 17-12 and was followed by four consecutive made free throws by Cohen in the next two possessions to make it a one-point game. Megan Touhey seized Cortland's first lead of the game with 6:53 to go in the first half with a layup, beginning a see-saw battle for the lead.

Cortland took control of the game by ending the first half on a 7-0 run, which included a big Cohen three-pointer to take the lead, 26-25, at the 1:43 mark of the first half. The Red Dragons brought their biggest lead of the game (four points) to the locker room, 29-25.

After exchanging made baskets to start the half, two consecutive Irwin baskets tied the game at 31-all with 17:35 to play. Bradley scored on a layup on New Paltz's next trip down the court, giving New Paltz a lead it would not relinquish, despite several attempts at runs courtesy of Cohen's big scoring night and the threat of Brittany Rando from long range. Rando twice hit three-point shots in the middle of the second period to bring the Red Dragons within only two possessions of tying the game, but the Hawks answered both times.

New Paltz shot 28-of-63 from the field for a 44.4 percent clip while holding Cortland to 36.5 percent shooting (19-of-52). The Red Dragons won the turnover battle, coughing up possession 17 times to the zealous Hawk defense, compared to the 18 times New Paltz lost the ball.

At 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11, New Paltz will take on SUNY Oswego in its final home matchup of the regular season while celebrating Senior Day. Seniors Bradley, Cohen, Irwin, point guard Kaitlin Clifford (Staten Island, N.Y./Curtis), guard/forward Samantha DelGaudio (Northport, N.Y./Northport) and guard/forward Bridget Grover (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Holy Trinity) will be honored pre-game for their achievements and time with New Paltz.