BOSTON – After dropping its first game of the season on Saturday, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team responded with an impressive 61-40 win over Mount Saint Mary on Sunday in the consolation game of the 31^st-annual Emmanuel Tournament.
 
With the victory, the Hawks claimed third place in the tournament and move to 1-1 on the young season and will travel to cross-river rival Vassar on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. The Knights, meanwhile, drop to 0-2 and will host Hunter on Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m.
 
The Hawks were led offensively by sophomore forward Courtney Irby (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) who scored a game-high 12 points in just 18 minutes of work. Irby also contributed six boards, two blocks and two steals.
 
Classmate guard/forward Kit Small (Slingerlands, N.Y./Academy of the Holy Names) pulled down a contest-best 14 rebounds (10 defensive) and chipped in eight points. Senior Shannan Walker (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) dished out a game-high four assists and recorded three steals while freshmen guards Jasmine Bryant (Elmont, N.Y./St. Mary's College Prep) and Tanysha Campbell (Bronx, N.Y./Intech Academy) combined to score 15 points off the bench as New Paltz managed to defeat the Knights handily despite shooting just 28.0 percent from the field (23-of-82).
 
For the Knights, senior forward Natlie Candarelli scored a team-best 10 points as the Hawks limited Mount Saint Mary to 26.5 percent shooting (13-of-49) and forced 32 Knight turnovers, scoring 26 points off those miscues. The New Paltz bench outscored the Mount 32-10 and the Hawks never trailed in the game.
 
In the first half, the Hawks jumped out to a commanding 23-9 lead with 7:34 to go after Walker knocked down a three-pointer. Another long range shot by junior Colleen Ames (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) at 3:46 gave New Paltz a 19-point cushion before the Knights went on a quick spurt and cut the lead down to 36-22 at the break.
 
But New Paltz controlled the second period and increased the advantage to 20 points (48-28) when Campbell hit a shot from beyond the arc at 13:11. The Hawks limited Mount Saint Mary to just 18 second-half points and forced 20 turnovers during the half to walk away with their first win of the year.