NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – Despite a rally midway through the fourth quarter that brought the Cardinals within three, the Plattsburgh State women's basketball team dropped a road State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) contest to New Paltz 57-50 on Friday night. Sophomore guard Selma Deisz (Bekkestua, Norway / Nadderud VGS) paced the Cardinal offense with 12 points to go with three steals.

Imani Walcott (Albany, N.Y. / Albany) and Kayla Johannesen (Hyde Park, N.Y. / Our Lady of the Lourdes) both contributed 10 points to the overall effort. Walcott grabbed 12 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season as well as recorded five blocks and four steals on the defensive end while Johannesen grabbed six rebounds and had two assists. Jaden Wilson (Johnstown, N.Y. / Johnstown) had a solid night with nine points and three rebounds while Payton Couture (Redford, N.Y. / Saranac) finished the night with eight points and six rebounds.

For the Hawks, Hannah Vanderzee led all players in scoring with 14 points. Sierra Carter and Julia Sabatino both had nine points while Abby Korzekwinski led the team in rebounding with nine to go with her seven points.

The Cardinals had a solid shooting night, shooting 36.2% from the field compared to the Hawks' 29.0%, but the Hawks shot better from the free line at 85.7% making 12 of 14 while the Cardinals made 7 of 11 at 63.6%. While both teams weren't as efficient from behind the arc, the Hawks did shoot 22.7% knocking down five while the Cardinals only made one at 8.3%. The Hawks won the rebounding battle 40-33 but Plattsburgh was able to take advantage of extra possessions, recording 10 second-chance points to the Hawks' nine. Both teams had double-digit turnovers, but the Hawks doubled the Cardinals in points off turnovers 18 to 9.

Plattsburgh State moves to 11-9 (7-6 SUNYAC) with the loss and next plays tomorrow, Feb. 8 when they travel to Oneonta for a 2 p.m. tip-off. New Paltz moves to 13-8 (12-2 SUNYAC) with the win and next hosts Potsdam tomorrow, Feb. 8 at 2 p.m.

After the Hawks got the scoring started in the first quarter, the Cardinals used a 6-0 burst led by Deisz with four points to jump out to an 11-6 lead at the 3:56 mark. New Paltz swung the momentum in their favor and ended the quarter on an 8-0 run to take a 14-11 into the second quarter.

New Paltz started the second quarter as they ended the first with an 8-0 run and extended their lead to 20-11 at the 8:01 mark. The Cardinals responded with six straight points and made the score 20-17 at the 6:08 mark. Play continued to go back and forth and after a Wilson layup ended the second quarter the Cardinals went into halftime down 27-23.

After New Paltz opened the scoring in the third, back-to-back layups from Couture and a layup from Johannesen made the score 32-29 Hawks at the 5:24 mark. A layup from Walcott brought the Cardinals within two but a three from Sophia Bonnell to end the quarter made the score 37-32 after three quarters of play.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Cardinals battled back using a 7-0 run that saw contributions from Deisz, Walcott, Johannesen, and Rosie Sculco (Amsterdam, N.Y. / Amsterdam) and made the score 48-45 Hawks at the 3:29 mark. However, New Paltz responded with a 6-0 run followed by a free throw from Couture and three more New Paltz points that extended their lead to double figures at 57-46 and put the game out of reach. The Cardinals got some late baskets from Johannesen and Walcott but didn't have enough time to erase the deficit and fell 57-50.