NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Despite a close score throughout three periods, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team pushed a 15-0 run in the fourth quarter run to claim a 72-60 victory over The College at Brockport on Saturday afternoon in the Hawk Center.
 
The Hawks rise to 18-5, 13-3 and head out on the road on Friday, Feb. 19 to take on Buffalo State at 5:30 p.m. The Golden Eagles fall to 12-10, 8-7 and will pay a visit to SUNY Cortland on Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 5:30 p.m.
 
Although the Golden Eagles entered the final period with a 54-52 edge, the Hawks scored 15 unanswered points to grab the largest lead of the game (67-54). Brockport managed to cut the score to 69-60 with 1:18 remaining but the Hawks clinched the final victory as New Paltz capitalized on three Brockport fouls, converting 3-of-3 shots from the line.
 
Senior guard Dariah Duncan (New York City, N.Y./Aquinas) set the tone as she drained a quick 3-pointer just seconds into the start of the game. The Hawks continued to push ahead as senior guard Goldie Harrison (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) added to New Paltz's lead with a pair of layups. The Golden Eagles soon found their opportunity to land on the scoreboard and managed to trim the deficit to 19-16.
 
The second quarter saw the Golden Eagles tie the score to 19-all before grabbing the lead for the first time on a 3-pointer from junior guard Faith Welch. New Paltz responded in kind as a 3-pointer by Colleen Ames (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) evened the score once again. Still, the Golden Eagles jumped ahead with the lead as Welch landed another shot from the 3-point range.
 
The Hawks retaliated as junior guard/forward Kit Small (Slingerlands, N.Y./Academy of the Holy Names) put up three points to hand the advantage back to New Paltz. The Golden Eagles kept the score close throughout the rest of the quarter, slicing the deficit to two points (36-34) at the half.
 
New Paltz tallied a 52-44 margin in rebounds, 25 bench points and limited Brockport to a 29.9 field goal percentage (20-of-67) while shooting 35.6 percent (21-of-59) from the floor. The Golden Eagles finished the night with nine fast break points and scored 17 points off turnovers.
 
Small made 5-of-11 shots from the field, 2-of-4 shots from the 3-point range, and 9-of-11 from the line to pace the Hawks with 21 points. Harrison chipped in 13 points with a 3-of-7 mark from the floor while sophomore guard Sydney Pinn (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) added 12 points. Sophomore guard/forward Laura Stuart (Levittown, N.Y./Division Avenue) posted a career-high 16 rebounds.
 
For the Golden Eagles, Welch tallied 26 points to lead the team while freshman guard Megan Anagnostopulos recorded 12 points. Senior forward/center Olivia Suhr notched a team-high 13 boards in the loss.