SUNY New Paltz poised for SUNYAC semifinals
A SUNY New Paltz women’s basketball that’s on a roll finds itself two wins away from defending its State University of New York Athletic Conference championship, with the semifinals today.
A SUNY New Paltz women’s basketball that’s on a roll finds itself two wins away from defending its State University of New York Athletic Conference championship.
The Hawks have won 11 of their last 12 games heading into today’s 5:30 p.m. conference semifinal against Brockport at Geneseo.
The winner takes on the victor of the Geneseo-Cortland semi for the title 4 p.m. Saturday.
New Paltz, 16-8 overall, is seeded second in the tournament. Sixthseeded Brockport (10-16) upset No. 3 Oneonta 70-64 in Tuesday’s quarterfinals. The Hawks swept the regular-season games against Brockport, winning 66-45 and 76-52.
Senior Kit Small is the sparkplug for New Paltz, leading the team in scoring (12.8 per game), rebounds (6.0), assists (2.8) and steals (1.9).
The Hawks struggled at the beginning of the season, going 5-7 before finally meshing and finding a rhythm.
“We never doubted that we had a lot of talent on this team, but I did not do a really good job of putting that talent together,” New Paltz head coach Jamie Seward admitted. “So I made some adjustments, listened to my assistants a little bit better and just tried to stay out of their way a little bit.”
The Hawks’ only loss in the last month was a 5639 defeat Feb. 11 to Geneseo, who rolls into the final four unbeaten at 25-0 and ranked 15th in the nation.
It’s the third straight year New Paltz had qualified for the tournament.
“We have a number of freshmen who we rely on heavily and two four-year seniors (Small and Courtney Irby) who have played in their third straight (postseason),” Seward said, “but, other than them, this is only the second for a couple other of our players and for half of our team this is their first time around in the postseason.
“Hopefully, the upperclassmen and the seniors can relay their experience and help the freshmen understand the urgency of the moment and the different intensity levels that these do-or-die game are played with.”
Should the Hawks win and Geneseo knocks off (13-13) Cortland, New Paltz may have history on its side. The host Knights have never beaten the Hawks in postseason play. New Paltz is 3-0, including wins over Geneseo last year and in 2013 for its only SUNYAC championships.
With the conference title also comes an automatic berth in the NCAA Division III tournament.