NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Senior guard/forward Kit Small (Slingerlands, N.Y./Academy of the Holy Names) and sophomore guard Lindsay Bettke (Pelham, N.Y./The Ursuline School) each scored 22 points in the State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team's 70-61 State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) victory over SUNY Fredonia on Friday evening in the Hawk Center.

Small and Bettke combined for 44 of New Paltz's 70 points with the pair scoring 15 points and 13 points, respectively, in the second half. Small also pulled down a team-high eight rebounds and dished out three assists while senior guard/forward Morgan Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) chipped in nine points off the bench.

Senior guard Alexis Cheatham led the Fredonia offense with 18 points while pulling down six rebounds and dishing out seven assists. Junior guard/forward Jacque Law added nine points for the Blue Devils while sophomore forward Jenna Einink chipped in eight points.

A closely fought battled ensued for the lead as the opening quarter was underway. The Blue Devils jumped out in front after sinking back-to-back 3-pointers at the 6:54 mark before pushing an 8-5 run to extend their lead to 19-11 with 3:58 on the clock. Despite the deficit, the Hawks managed to bring Fredonia within two (22-20) heading into the second period.

New Paltz quickly leveled the score to 22-all in the opening minutes of the second stanza but would end up trailing Fredonia the rest of the way as the Blue Devils outscored the Hawks, 16-12, to hold a 38-32 advantage at intermission.

Coming out of the break, the Hawks roped the score to 41-40 with 6:24 remaining in the third quarter before back-to-back points by Roessler and Bettke placed New Paltz ahead for the first time since the opening period (44-41). However the Blue Devils were able to secure the lead once again (47-45) as the game entered its final quarter.

Small kicked off the final stretch of the game with a 3-pointer right out of the gate before scoring several more points to open up the gap for New Paltz (52-47) as time began to wind down. Fredonia trailed the Hawks by no more than five points throughout most of the period, eventually slicing the score to 62-59 with 2:06 remaining, but would be unable to catch up as New Paltz converted 4-of-4 from the line in the final 30 seconds to secure the 70-61 tally.

The Hawks improve to 12-7, 9-4 SUNYAC and are back in the Hawk Center tomorrow when they host conference foe Buffalo State at 4 p.m.