CORTLAND, N.Y. – Senior guard Maliqua Fisher (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) picked up her second-straight double-double, and senior forward Alex McCullough (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central), the reigning SUNYAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week, led all scorers with 21 points to fuel the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team (22-2, 16-1 SUNYAC) to a 57-53 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) victory over SUNY Cortland (10-12, 8-8 SUNYAC) on Tuesday at Whitney T. Corey Gymnasium.
 
Fisher posted 16 points and a career-high 17 rebounds in Tuesday's win, just three days after putting up 18 points and 11 boards. She also added five steals to her effort. McCullough's 21 points fall just shy of her season-high 23 points, which she scored in the Hawks' Jan. 8 victory, which also came against the Red Dragons. She grabbed six rebounds and blocked four shots on the night as well.
 
The Hawks came into the second half having to play from behind, which seems to be their specialty this season. Once again, the Hawks put together an early rally to take a lead, but they could not put the Red Dragons away quickly, as there were five lead changes in the final frame. Brittany Rando opened the scoring in the second stanza with a three-pointer to put Cortland ahead by five, but the Hawks followed up with a 7-0 run to take the lead. Caysea Cohen tied the game again on a layup, but McCullough hit back-to-back threes to give the Hawks a six-point edge at the 15:52 mark.
 
Cohen was fouled on a successful layup, and then she made the continuation free throw to get Cortland back within three. Still hot from the distance, McCullough drained yet another three to put the Hawks back up by six. After a Red Dragon rally, Megan Touhey nailed a three with 8:02 to go to give Cortland a one-point lead. Freshman forward Michelle Valle (New York, N.Y./Manhattan Center for Science/Mathematics) hit a free throw at 5:34 to tie the game after the lead changed hands two more times. After this point, no points were scored until McCullough hit another long ball at 2:16 to give the Hawks the lead for good.
 
McCullough opened the scoring in the first half with a three-pointer, but a 7-0 run gave Cortland a 7-3 lead. The Red Dragons held the led for the rest of the half, but could not push the advantage farther than five points. Fisher scored the last points of the half on a layup to cut the deficit to two heading into the locker room.
 
Cohen led the Red Dragons with 14 points on the evening. Touhey and Erin Wolstenholme followed with 11 points each, while Lindsey Minor led the team with six rebounds.
 
The Hawks shot 41.5 percent (22-of-53) from the field on Tuesday, while the Red Dragons made just 33.3 percent (20-of-60) of their field goals. New Paltz held the edge by making 8-of-20 (40 percent) three pointers, six of which came from McCullough, while Cortland was successful on 8-of-26 attempts (30.8 percent). The Hawks made 5-of-10 (50 percent) free throws in the win, while Cortland made 5-of-7 attempts (71.4 percent).
 
The Hawks finish off their regular season schedule on Friday, Feb. 15, when they play host to SUNY Oneonta. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. from the Hawk Center. After Friday, the Hawks will enjoy a first-round bye before hosting the semifinal and final rounds of the 2013 SUNYAC Women's Basketball Championship Tournament, which begins Friday, Feb. 22.