New Paltz earns first NCAA tourney win

ITHACA, N.Y. >> The SUNY New Paltz women’s basketball team upset 14th-seeded Bowdoin College 62-61 Friday for its first ever NCAA Division III Tournament victory.

With the win, the (19-8) Hawks advanced to today’s 5 p.m. secondround contest against the winner of Friday night’s contest between host Ithaca (24-3) and Rochester Institute of Technology (19-8).

New Paltz has made the tournament three out of the last five years, but was never able to advance beyond the first round. The Hawks defeated a (21-4) Polar Bears team that has been in the tournament 14 times and eight of the last nine years.

After escaping the first quarter with a narrow 12-11 edge, the Hawks extended the lead to 27-22 at half.

Early in the third quarter, Bowdoin surged to gain a two-point lead. But New Paltz roared to life in the latter part of the quarter with a 9-2 run to pull ahead 46-35 going into the final period.

Trailing by as many as 13 points with seven minutes remaining in the fourth, the Polar Bears pulled within two with 24 seconds left, but couldn’t capitalize, as the Hawks slipped away with the win.

Kit Small (14 points, eight rebounds), Courtney Irby (11 points, seven rebounds), Marion Dietz (11 points, six rebounds), Lindsay Bettke (nine points), Morgan Roessler (nine points) and Paige Niemeyer (seven points, eight rebounds) led New Paltz.

Abigail Kelly (13 points, six rebounds), Marle Curle (nine points), and Maddie Hasson (nine points) paced Bowdoin.