BUFFALO – In a game that saw the score tie 11 times, the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team managed to slip past State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) foe Buffalo State for a 73-67 victory on Friday evening.
 
With the win, New Paltz clinches the No. 1 seed in the SUNYAC tournament and earns the regular-season conference title, the second in program history.
 
The Hawks improve to 19-5, 14-3 SUNYAC and close out their regular season at SUNY Fredonia tomorrow at 2 p.m. The Bengals drop to 9-15, 5-12 SUNYAC and close out their season tomorrow when they host SUNY Oneonta at 2 p.m.
 
After a close score throughout the entire third period, the Bengals held a 49-48 advantage heading into the fourth quarter and quickly extended their lead to 53-48 in the first two minutes of the final session. Senior guard Goldie Harrison (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) trimmed the deficit to 53-51 on a 3-point play before sophomore guard/forward Laura Stuart (Levittown, N.Y./Division Avenue) launched a jumper to level the score to 53-all.
 
Despite the Bengals' efforts to regain the lead, the Hawks took control as senior guard Colleen Ames (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) put away a 3-pointer and a pair of free-throws. The Bengals managed to slice to score to 60-59 before Stuart drained back-to-back 3-pointers to keep the Hawks in the lead. The Bengals roped the score to 66-65 as the clock ticked down but were thwarted in their efforts as the Hawks kept returning to the free-throw line, connecting on 4-of-5 shots to seal the win.
 
Both teams were near even at the start of the first quarter until Harrison and junior forward Courtney Irby(Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) put away 3-of-3 free throws to give the Hawks the lead. The Bengals steadily cut the score, bringing New Paltz within two at the 3:04 mark, before sophomore guard Sydney Pinn (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) drained a 3-point shot to increase the gap. Despite junior guard/forward Kit Small (Slingerlands, N.Y./Academy of the Holy Names) hitting a layup to keep the Hawks ahead, the Bengals evened the score to 16-all in the final 30 seconds of the opening period.
 
The second quarter saw the score tied three times until Stuart collected two points on a fast break play before sinking a shot from the 3-point range to place the Hawks ahead, 25-20. New Paltz jumped out to its largest lead of the night, 32-23, as Pinn put away a pair of free throws. However, the Bengals would cap off the Hawks' scoring opportunities as they pushed a 7-0 spurt to draw the score within two at the break (32-30).
 
The Bengals edged New Paltz 51-34 in boards and held the Hawks to a 36.1 field goal percentage (22-of-61) and a 61.8 free throw percentage (21-of-34) while shooting 40 percent from the floor (26-of-65) and 77.8 percent from the line (14-of-18). The Hawks scored 25 points off turnovers and tallied 31 bench points for the night.
 
Stuart made 9-of-13 shots from the field and 4-of-5 shots from the 3-point range to collect a career-high 22 points and grabbed 10 boards to conclude the game with a double-double. Small chipped in 14 points and converted 6-of-7 shots from the line while Ames added 11 points. Harrison recorded six assists for the night.
 
Senior forward Jordan Yastremski posted a double-double 12 points and 14 rebounds for the Bengals while sophomore guard Keyonte Edwards recorded 12 points and nine rebounds. Senior guard Britt Perry and sophomore guard Caleh McLean both notched 10 points and six boards in the Bengals' efforts.