NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team (20-2, 14-1 SUNYAC) defeated Buffalo State (11-10, 7-7 SUNYAC), 71-69, in a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) overtime thriller to reach 20 wins in a season for the first time in program history.
 
The Hawks fell behind five points with 58 seconds to go in overtime on Olivia Luciani's three pointer, which appeared to put the dagger in New Paltz's chances to win. Freshman forward Michelle Valle (New York, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Science/Mathematics) cut the deficit to three with a layup at the 0:38 mark, and then junior forward Jeanette Scott (West Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) stole the ball from Mariah Norris to give the Hawks a chance to tie.
 
With the clock reading 0:32, junior guard Alyssa Gratien (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) grabbed the inbound pass in the far corner and drained a three-pointer to tie the game and swing the momentum back in New Paltz's favor. Bianca Smiley failed to hit a jumper with 10 ticks to go for the Bengals, and freshman guard Goldie Harrison(Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) grabbed the rebound and was fouled trying to run up the court. She sank both ensuing free throws to put the Hawks up two with seven seconds remaining. Buffalo State's Ashley Wallace tried to make a desperation jumper, but it was no good, clinching the victory for the Hawks.
 
The Hawks entered the second half with a five-point lead, and held the edge for the entirety of the period, including an eight-point lead with the scoreboard showing 6:18. The Bengals slowly chipped away at the lead, coming within one on Smiley's layup with 47 seconds left. Valle was good on one of two free throws to give the Hawks a two-point lead again with the Bengals having one final chance. Wallace was unable to make a layup with two seconds to go, but Smiley grabbed a crucial offensive board and shot it back up and through the hoop to tie the game at the buzzer and send it into overtime.
 
Senior forward Alex McCullough (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) led the Hawks with 15 points and seven rebounds in the win. She also managed to block four shots and steal the ball four times. Valle followed McCullough with 14 points and six boards and senior guard Kahsyrah Bryant (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) netted 12 points and grabbed five rebounds.
 
Wallace scored 20 points to lead the Bengals, pulling down 10 rebounds in the process to complete the double-double. Smiley joined her with a double-double of her own, scoring 14 points and picking up 14 rebounds, nine of which were grabbed off the offensive boards.
 
The Hawks forced 28 turnovers in the game, scoring 26 points off takeaways. Buffalo State shot better from the field, making 36.4 percent (24-of-66) of their shots to the Hawks' 35.5 percent field goal percentage (22-of-62). Both teams tied by shooting 3-for-8 from three-point range, but the Bengals held the edge at the charity stripe, succeeding on 72 percent (18-of-25) of their attempts compared to New Paltz's 61.5 percent (24-of-39).
 
The Hawks return to action tomorrow, Feb. 9, as they play host to SUNY Fredonia at the Hawk Center. Tip-off has been rescheduled to 4 p.m. to accommodate for inclement weather.