Box Score

FREDONIA, N.Y. – Freshman forward Kit Small (Singerlands, N.Y./Academy of the Holy Name), came off the bench to score a career-high 22 points, but her performance was overshadowed by a 30-point outing by Fredonia State's senior guard Becky Hebert, who led her team to an 85-61 victory over the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team last night in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) opener at Steel Hall Fieldhouse.

Hebert, who leads the SUNYAC in scoring (24.8 ppg), was difficult to contain as she connected on 13-of-19 field goal attempts. She wasn't the only Fredonia State player that caused the Hawks problems in a game where the Hawks never seemed to get into a flow. Fredonia senior forward Jaimie Warren notched 21 points with 13 rebounds, and sophomore guard Brittany LaForce tallied 10 points. LaForce's output was particularly significant as she scored all of those points in a 20-6 first half run that took the Blue Devils from an early 4-3 deficit and into a 23-10 lead that held firm throughout the contest.

The loss drops New Paltz to 2-5, 0-1 in the SUNYAC. Fredonia improves to 5-2, 1-0. The Hawks travel to Buffalo State for a 2 p.m. game on Saturday, while the Blue Devils host Oneonta State on Saturday at 2 p.m. Buffalo State defeated Oneonta 62-58 to begin its SUNYAC play on Friday night.

The Hawks trailed for all but two minutes of the contest, and played catch-up all game. Fredonia made two big swings in the game; the first came over a 6:43 span of the first half to build a 23-10 lead that eventually helped the Blue Devils lead 33-26 at the break. 

The Fredonia second spurt came after four minutes of play in the second half, following a Small layup that brought New Paltz within 41-37 with 16:07 to play. The Blue Devils thwarted a pressing New Paltz comeback with a 21-10 run over the following 10 minutes to build a 62-45 lead. Warren was the catalyst in this sequence, accounting for 11 of her team's 21 points, eight of which came consecutively.  Hebert had six points during this stretch to keep the Hawks at bay.

Trailing by 17 points and intent on making a comeback, the Hawks were unable to shoot their way back into the game, connecting on just 1-of-15 attempts from behind the arc (1-for-9 in the second half).

Behind Small's outing, which included 8-for-10 from the field (she was 8-for-8 at one juncture), New Paltz had a strong performance from its bench, outscoring Fredonia 42-23.  With Hebert and Warren shooting a combined 19-27 (.703), however, the Blue Devils were an efficient unit and  shot 58 percent from the field. Warren in particular was a tough opponent down low, going 9-of-13 from the free throw line and grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds.

Behind Small's outstanding 10-point first half, however, the Hawks kept within striking distance. Sophomore guard Goldie Harrison (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) followed her 17-point performance against Western Connecticut on Tuesday with 12 points and ever-improving sophomore guard Christine Rivera (Long Beach, N.Y/Valley Stream) had 11 points in 32 minutes.