POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam women's basketball team (6-1, 2-0 SUNYAC) held off SUNY New Paltz (5-2, 1-1) 69-66 at Jerry Welsh Gymnasium on Friday night. Junior guard
Madison McCormick (Heuvelton, N.Y./Heuvelton) and sophomore guard
Bella Barner (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) both scored 15 points on the night. Junior guard
Dyamon Hunter (Bronx, N.Y./Thurgood Marshall Academy) and junior forward
Jakia Howard (Syracuse, N.Y./Nottingham) each added 14 points.
New Paltz opened the contest with a 17-7 run, but the Bears rallied to close the quarter with a 7-2 stretch and trailed just 19-14 after 10 minutes. Howard and McCormick each scored four points and Hunter and Barner had three apiece.
Potsdam fought back against the Hawks in the second quarter, overpowering them 21-15. Hunter tied the contest with a layup at 7:28 and McCormick drained a three at 6:31 to give the Bears their first lead at 24-21. Freshman guard
Xy'El Bradford (Syracuse, N.Y./Syracuse Academy of Science) hit a 3-pointer at 4:53 to extend the lead to 29-23. New Paltz closed the half with an 11-6 run, but Potsdam took a 35-34 edge into the locker room. Howard and Hunter added four points each to their totals and McCormick, Bradford and Barner all added three points to Potsdam's attack.
Entering the third quarter, the Bears kept the pace up against the Hawks, but New Paltz edged them 20-18 in the high scoring 10 minutes.. The Bears had an impressive 53.8 field goal percentage and were 3-for-3 from 3-point line on shots from McCormick and Barner. Potsdam's defense held the Hawks to 36.84 percent from the floor, but they were 5-for-9 behind-the-arc. Junior guard Lexi Van Vorst (East Greenbush, N.Y./Columbia) scored nine points for New Paltz in the quarter. Barner had six for the Bears, but Potsdam trailed 54-53.
New Paltz started the quarter with six unanswered points on back-to-back threes from Van Vorst and sophomore guard Brianna Fitzgerald (Bethpage, N.Y./Island Times). The Bears countered with a 14-2 run starting with a Barner three and ending with a McCormick three. Potsdam led 67-62 with 2:44 remaining. A three-point play from Fitzgerald at 1:45 and a free throw from junior guard Maddie Gillis (Levittown, N.Y./Division Avenue) made it a one-point contest at 1:06. However, McCormick hit two from the charity stripe with 14 seconds left to seal the 69-66 win.
Fitzgerald led all scorers with 21 points to go with her seven rebounds. Van Vorst finished with 17 points and Gillis added 11 points and seven boards.
The victory snaps a 13-game winless streak against New Paltz, dating back to a 57-50 Potsdam road win on January 18, 2014.
The Bears are back in action tomorrow as they take on the Oneonta Red Dragons at 2 p.m.
