New Paltz Wins First Annual Tip Off Tournament 95-91 (3OT) Against William Smith

The SUNY New Paltz women’s basketball team won the First Annual SUNY New Paltz tip off tournament 95-91 in the third overtime against William Smith. Sophomore Artie Williams was named the tournament’s most outstanding player as she netted a career high 36 points on 15-30 from the floor and grabbed a game high 19 boards and tallied seven steals.

New Paltz led 62-56 with 2:18 left in the second half before William Smith went 4-6 from the free throw line and made a lay-up to trail by two (64-62), as Maggie Farrell made two shots from the charity stripe. William Smith’s Amy Guthrie hite a jump shot with twelve seconds on the clock to force the first overtime. Williams had a layup attempt at the buzzer that fell just short.

The second overtime was a back and forth exchange of points with the game tied four times. The final tie came when junior Nicole Sarcone hit two free throws with 26 seconds left on the clock to force the second overtime stanza.

New Paltz led by as many as five in the second overtime before the Herons tied the game on three pointer with 1:17 left. Chelsea Clarke went 2-2 from the line to regain the lead for the Hawks and Williams increased the lead to three when she went 1-2 from the line with 14 seconds remaining. William Smith drove down the courst and Erin Cunningham nailed a three pointer with six seconds on the clock to force the final overtime with the game all tied at 84-84.

In the final overtime, William Smith had to play the final 4:51 with only four players due to player foul outs. New Paltz led 91-88, before Cunningham hit her third three pointer of the game to even the game for the 13th time with 1:07 left. Maggie Farrell then hit a three pointer at :49 seconds and Sarcone completed the scoring with 17 seconds left on a free throw.

Sarcone finished the game with 12 points, seven assists and Farrell added 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals. William Smith was led by Latasha Coney with 30 points and nine rebounds and Cunningham finished with 26 points and nine boards.

New Paltz improves to 2-1 on the season and will return to action on Tuesday November 25th when they host SUNY IT at 6pm.

All Tournament Team
Krysten Hickey – Wheaton
Kimberly Blackney – Farmingdale
Erin Cunningham – William Smith
Carly Minehan – New Paltz
Artie Williams – New Paltz (MVP)