New Paltz, N.Y. – The SUNY Potsdam women's basketball team (2-3, 1-1 SUNYAC) fell to SUNY New Paltz (5-3, 2-0 SUNYAC) 77-47 at the Hawk Center on Friday evening. Sophomore forward Jenna Cotter (Johnson City, N.Y./Susquehanna Valley) led the Bears with 11 points while sophomore guard Xy'El Bradford (Syracuse, N.Y./Syracuse Academy of Science) chipped in 10 points.
 
New Paltz opened the first quarter on a 7-0 run to quickly assert their presence over the Bears. Shortly after the run, sophomore guard Carley Hill (Essex, Vt./Rice Memorial) sank a three-pointer to put Potsdam on the board. A 16-0 run made it 23-4 with 51 seconds remaining in the quarter. Hill managed to hit another three at 13 seconds, resulting in a 23-7 Hawks lead after one.
 
New Paltz scored the opening bucket of the second quarter at 9:19. About a minute later, senior forward Mandy Barnell (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) laid a shot in under the basket for the Bears. Potsdam struggled to gain any momentum against a suffocating Hawks defense until Potsdam routed a 7-0 run to end the second quarter. Senior forward Jakia Howard (Syracuse, N.Y./Nottingham) scored four points during the run as the Hawks lead 35-20 at the half.
 
A potent Hawks offense continued to give the Bears trouble as Potsdam found themselves down 58-34 through three quarters. Bradford added five points to her total in the third.
 
New Paltz continued to pull away in the fourth quarter and closed out the 77-47 win. Barnell, Cotter, and Howard all made a layup during the final quarter.
 
Madison Mullman paced the Hawks with 16 points. Abby Korzekwinski and Brianna Fitzgerald had 11 points each.
 
The Bears are back in action tomorrow afternoon when they head to Oneonta to take on the Red Dragons at 2 p.m.