BUFFALO, NY- The SUNY New Paltz women’s basketball team defeated the Buffalo State Bengals 71-47 Saturday afternoon. The Hawks overpowered the Bengals to start the second half and Buffalo State could not recover. The Hawks won the turnover battle for the 17th time in 21 games and the team had 17 steals on the afternoon.
The Hawks jumped out quick, scoring the first five points of the contest in 38 seconds, but the Bengals rebounding tying the game at 7-7 with 15:30 remaining. With 10:58 remaining, the Hawks holding a slim advantage of 15-12, scored seven straight points in 56 seconds to take a 22-12 lead. The Bengals responded by chipping away at the Hawks lead over the next five minutes tying the game at 23-23 with 4:36 remaining in the half. The Hawks regained the lead with a 10-4 run in three minutes. Both teams weren’t able to score a point over the last 1:46 of the half and the Hawks went into the break with a 33-27 advantage.
Junior guard Maggie Farrell (Hillsdale, NY/Immaculate) led the Hawks in the first half with nine points and five rebounds. Freshman guard Kaitlin Clifford (Staten Island, NY/Curtis) added seven points and two assists and junior guard Nicole Sarcone (Staten Island, NY/Notre Dame Academy) with five points, two rebounds and three assists.
The Bengals were led by Shareese Hamer with 11 points and five rebounds and Barb Kiliszek and Dee Layne each added four points and three rebounds apiece. Layne also had four steals for the Bengals.
The second half, the Hawks overpowered the Bengals turning a six point lead to a 15 point lead in two minutes with an 11-2 run to make it 44-29. The Hawks weren’t done there as they pushed the lead to 22 points at 52-30 with 16:10 remaining. The Hawks continued to extend their lead to as much as 26 points before defeating the Bengals 71-47.
Farrell finished the game with 17 points and six rebounds and Clifford with 11 points and three rebounds. Sophomore forward Artie Williams (Newburgh, NY/Newburgh Free Academy) added ten points and three rebounds and Sarcone chipped in with ten points, two rebounds, four assists and three steals.
The Bengals were led by Hamer with 18 points and Divine Sebuharara added eight points and six rebounds. Buffalo State falls to 5-18 overall and 4-10 in the SUNYAC.
The Hawk improve to 15-6 overall and 11-2 in the SUNYAC and maintain second place position in the conference. The Hawks return to the court Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Oneonta in the Alumni Field House.
