NEW PALTZ — When the SUNY New Paltz women’s basketball team tips off its State University of New York Athletic Conference quarterfinal matchup with Cortland on Wednesday, it will be the latest indication of how far the program has come in the last few years.
New Paltz (12-12), which is seeded seventh for the eight-team tournament, will face second-seeded Cortland (23-1), winner of the last two conference titles, at 6 p.m. at Utica Memorial Auditorium. If the Hawks win, they will tie the school record for wins in a season, established in 1991-92 and matched in 1992-93 under Fred Francello.
It is the culmination of three years of hard work, and numerous growing pains along the way for Head Coach Richard Thornton’s squad. He inherited a team in fall 1998 that had gone 6-17 in 1997-98 and enjoyed just one winning season in the previous 15 years.
This season, New Paltz finished in a three-way tie for the sixth-best record (9-11) in the extremely tough SUNYAC, which broke by three the previous school record for conference wins, and included a 75-70 win at third-seeded Geneseo, and a pair of eight-point victories against fourth-seeded Fredonia.
Additionally, New Paltz defeated local rival Mount St. Mary – which qualified yesterday for the NCAA Division III Tournament – by 14 points, 70-56, on Nov. 28 at Elting Gymnasium.
It is the first playoff berth for the Hawks since 1994 – when they lost 83-57 to eventual champion Buffalo State in the SUNYAC quarterfinals at Potsdam – and is only the third postseason berth of any kind in the program’s history.
In 1993, New Paltz lost a 79-78 heartbreaker to Rutgers-Newark in the opening round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Metro New York-New Jersey Tournament.
New Paltz was 2-22 last year, and 5-19 in 1998-99. -30-
Note to editors: Requests for interviews with New Paltz coaches and players prior to or at the SUNYAC Tournament are welcomed, and should be coordinated through the university sports information office.
