NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – A second half surge fueled the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team (15-0, 9-0 SUNYAC) to victory over SUNY Oswego (12-4, 6-3 SUNYAC), 56-53, in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) matchup Tuesday evening at the Hawk Center.
 
Behind 31-26 at the half, the Hawks flew out to a 19-2 run over the first 11 minutes of the second stanza to take a 45-33 lead. Oswego powered back, though, cutting the deficit to just three points on Lauren Nunziato's three pointer at the 1:33 mark. With 26 seconds remaining, Kari Kipper sank a layup to shrink the Hawk lead to one.
 
With chances to stretch the lead, both senior forward Alex McCullough (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) and freshman forward Michelle Valle (New York, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Science/Mathematics) each missed the front end of a one-and-one, allowing the Lakers two opportunities to take the lead. After McCullough's miss, Jenn Robbins was unable to make a layup, forcing Oswego to foul. With another chance after Valle's unsuccessful attempt, Meagan Stover took too many steps and was called for a travel, giving the ball back to New Paltz. Sent to the line once again, McCullough sank both free throw attempts, which put the game out of reach with just two ticks left to go.
 
Junior forward Jeanette Scott (West Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) picked up her first career double-double, matching career highs with 12 points and 10 rebounds. She also stole the ball a career-best five times. Senior guard Maliqua Fisher (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) led the Hawks with 15 points and added four steals. McCullough matched Scott with 12 points, while freshman guard Shannan Walker (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) tied her career mark with six assists.
 
The two teams played very evenly-matched basketball in the opening frame, which featured eight lead changes. Neither team led by more than four until Nunziato drained a three with 23 seconds left to push the Laker lead to five before the intermission.
 
Nunziato led the Lakers with 15 points on the evening, while Robbins followed with 12 of her own. Meagan Stover contributed nine points and a team-high eight rebounds in the loss.
 
The Hawks held a slight advantage from the field, shooting 37.9 percent (22-of-58) to Oswego's 36.7 percent (18-of-49). Oswego doubled up the Hawks with six three pointers to New Paltz's three. Oswego was much stronger from the free-throw line, sinking 11-of-12 foul shots (91.7 percent) compared to the Hawks' 9-of-16 (56.3 percent).
 
New Paltz returns to action on Friday, Jan. 21, when they take on SUNY Geneseo for the second time this season. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. from the Carl Schrader Gymnasium.