ONEONTA, NY- The SUNY New Paltz women’s basketball team traveled to Oneonta State Tuesday night to conclude the conference schedule on the road and fell to the Red Dragons 61-50 in the Alumni Field House. Despite winning the turnover battle again for the 18th time in 22 games, the Hawks struggled from the field all night.
The Hawks looked strong in the opening minute of the game, jumping out to a 5-0 lead only to see the Red Dragons score 13 straight points over a span of five minutes and forty-five seconds to take a 13-7 lead with 13:14 remaining. Junior guard Maggie Farrell (Hillsdale, NY/Immaculate) ended the Hawks six and a half minute drought with a lay-up to cut the lead to 13-7. The Hawks cut the Red Dragon lead to 21-18 with 4:11 remaining only to have the Red Dragons finish the half on an 11-4 run to go into the break with a 31-22 advantage.
Sophomore forward Artie Williams (Newburgh, NY/Newburgh Free Academy) led the Hawks in the first half with six points and Farrell chipped in with four points and four rebounds. Junior guard Nicole Sarcone (Staten Island, NY/Notre Dame Academy) had two points and dished out three assists.
Oneonta was led by Megan Bucci with eight points and eight rebounds and Shannon Weir added six points and four rebounds. Sara Chrystie scored four points and dished out five assists.
The second half was more of the same story as the Red Dragons stopped any attempt of a Hawk comeback. Williams three pointer to open the half cut the lead to six and that was as close as the Hawks would come to the Red Dragons. The Red Dragons just would not allow the Hawks to put a run together to get back into the game. The Red Dragons continued to build their lead and with a 53-38 lead with 2:04 remaining, the Hawks put a 7-2 run together to pull within ten points. The momentum was with the Hawks, but the Red Dragons quickly shut down the Hawks.
Williams scored a team-high 13 points, five rebounds and three steals and moves into 12th all-time on the New Paltz scoring list. Freshman guard Kaitlin Clifford (Staten Island, NY/Curtis) added 11 points and Farrell chipped in with ten points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Farrell moves into 14th all-time on the schools scoring list and eight all-time on the steals list. Sarcone scored two points, had four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sarcone moves into sixth all-time on the schools steals list. Junior forward Carly Minehan (Albany, NY/Albany) scored four points and had three rebounds and moves into 15th all-time on the schools scoring list and ninth all-time on the rebounds list.
The Red Dragons were led by Weir with a game-high 17 points and five rebounds and Bucci added a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Chrystie chipped in with eight points, seven rebounds and six assists. The Red Dragons finish the regular season at 19-5 overall and 12-4 in the SUNYAC.
The Hawks fall to 15-7 overall and 11-3 in the SUNYAC. The Hawks return to the court Friday night at 6 p.m. against Potsdam in the Hawk Center on the campus of SUNY New Paltz.
