NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Four players finished in double figures for the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team on Friday night as the Hawks defeated Buffalo State 73-63 in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action at the Hawk Center.
 
With the victory, the Hawks improve to 16-8, 12-5 SUNYAC and have won nine-straight home contests. New Paltz has officially earned the No. 3 seed for the upcoming SUNYAC Tournament and will host a quarterfinal game on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m., with the opponent yet to be determined. Buffalo State moves to 12-12, 9-8 SUNYAC and is currently tied with SUNY Oneonta and SUNY Plattsburgh for fourth place in the league.
 
New Paltz concludes the regular season tomorrow at 4 p.m., hosting SUNY Fredonia for Senior Day. The Bengals travel to Oneonta tomorrow at 4 p.m.
 
Leading the way offensively for New Paltz was sophomore guard/forward Kit Small (Slingerlands, N.Y./Academy of the Holy Names), who tallied a team-high 16 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Small has now scored in double digits in 13 consecutive contests.
 
Sophomore forward Courtney Irby (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) also notched a double-double –her third of the year – with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Junior guard/forward Colleen Ames (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) scored 13 points off the bench behind a trio of three pointers while senior guard Shannan Walker(Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) tallied 12 points, thanks to a pair of three pointers and a 6-of-6 showing at the free throw line.
 
For the Bengals, senior forward Ashley Wallace scored a game-high 24 points on 11-of-20 shooting. New Paltz forced 27 turnovers, scoring 23 points off those mistakes, and limited Buffalo State to a 18.2 percent showing from downtown (2-of-11).
 
The Hawks held a comfortable 13-point halftime lead (45-32) but Buffalo State used a 13-0 second half run to get back into the contest. However, several free throws by Small and Walker down the stretch iced the league win for New Paltz as the Hawks clinched the No. 3 seed.
 
In the first half, the game was knotted at 10-10 before New Paltz went on a 19-2 run to claim a comfortable 29-12 lead with 8:11 to play in the opening period. Buffalo State responded with a 17-7 spurt of their own and got within seven points (36-29) with 1:29 to go. But a three by Ames with 45 seconds left and five points by Walker in the final 25 ticks handed the Hawks a 13-point cushion heading into intermission.
 
The second half started in New Paltz's favor as the Hawks climbed to an 18-point lead (54-36) after a three by senior guard Ashley Riefenhauser (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry) at 16:59.
 
However, the Bengals would not go away quietly and rallied with a 13-0 run to pull within five (56-51) with 12:47 left. But the Hawks used clutch free throw shooting in the last few minutes to seal the win as Small and Walker combined to shoot 8-of-10 at the charity stripe.