POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam women's basketball team (9-15, 5-13 SUNYAC) nearly upset first place SUNY New Paltz (22-3, 17-1) on Saturday afternoon in the season finale. Junior guard
Barbara Bruno (Bronx, N.Y./Brooklyn High School for Law and Technology) led the Bears with 15 points and four rebounds. Fellow junior guard
Xy'El Bradford (Syracuse, N.Y./Syracuse Academy of Science) had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Graduate student forward
Jakia Howard (Syracuse, N.Y./Nottingham) was honored before the game as the team's lone senior. She had eight points and six rebounds in today's contest to close out her storied career with 1,192 points and 752 boards. Howard ranks third and fourth in program history in those respective categories.
The Hawks opened the contest on a 7-2 run. A 3-pointer from senior forward Jenny Walton (Glenwood Landing, N.Y./North Shore) gave New Paltz its five-point lead at 8:44. A Bradford layup got Potsdam within 9-6 with 6:00 left in the first. The Hawks then lifted off for an 11-6 finish and led 20-12 after 10 minutes. Bradford and Bruno each had four points.
New Paltz continued to roll in the second quarter, outscoring the Bears 18-5 to take a 38-17 lead into the break. Bruno had four of Potsdam's points.
The Bears finally answered with a 22-8 third quarter. Howard scored all of her points during the third and Bruno added five more. Potsdam trailed 46-39 after 30 minutes.
The Bears kept coming in the fourth quarter. Freshman guard
Sara Richards (AuSable Valley, N.Y./AuSable Valley) hit a three 20 seconds in to get Potsdam within four. The Hawks countered with an 8-0 run to open up a 12-point lead with 6:37 remaining. Potsdam then finished the game on a 17-6 stretch, falling a point short. Junior guard
Carley Hill (Essex, Vt./Rice Memorial) hit two threes during the run and fellow junior guards
Mikayla Shipley (North Chili, N.Y./Churchville-Chili), Bradford and
Zavia Jaime (New Hartford, N.Y./New Hartford) each had one. Jaime's came at the buzzer.
Senior guard Brianna Fitzgerald (Bethpage, N.Y./Island Trees) led all scorers with 26 points and eight rebounds for New Paltz. Senior guard Julia Sabatino (Bayville, N.Y./Locust Valley) had 13 points and five boards. Walton also reached double digits with 12 points and five assists.
