ONEONTA, NY — The women’s basketball team traveled to Oneonta tonight and fell to the Red Dragons 57-53, snapping their eight game win streak. The Hawks fall to 10-4 on the season and 5-2 in conference, while the Red Dragons advance to 10-4 and 6-1 in SUNYAC.
It was a slow starting game as Oneonta led 11-3 at 11:25, before the Hawks went on an 11-2 run over the next 5:23 to take their first lead of the game at 14-13. The game was tied four times in the first half with the last coming at 18-18 before the 26-23 half time lead for the Hawks.
In the second half, the Hawks started strong and took the largest lead of the game on a three pointer by Nicole Sarcone at 35-26 with 16:11 remaining. The Red Dragons battled back and tied the game at 41-41. It was a back and fourth battle in the final few minutes, testing the teams free throw shooting. New Paltz held a slight 53-52 lead on a free throw by Amber Sohns, but Oneonta answered with an open layup by Casey Snyder to take the 54-53 lead. The Red Dragons made 3-4 from the line in the final ten seconds for the 57-53 final.
The Hawks were out rebounded 37-28 and only shot 24.5% from the field compared to Oneonta’s 43.6%. New Paltz made 25-32 free throw attempts for a 78.1%, to keep them in the game.
Sohns led the Hawks with 12 points, including 7-12 from the charity stripe. Sophomores Maggie Farrell and Sarcone each finished with eight points and five rebounds, as all of Farrell’s points came from the line.
New Paltz will return to action on Friday January 25th when they travel to Cortland for a 6:00 pm matchup.
