New Paltz, NY – Trailing the entirety of the game against a valiant No. 6 seeded Oswego team, the State University of New York at New Paltz kept relentlessly chipping away to get within striking distance throughout 40 minutes with senior All-American guard/forward Brianna Fitzgerald leading the way.
Fitzgerald proved once again why she is one of the best players in the country, dropping a career-high 35 points — one point shy of tying the most in a single-game in program history — that included the eventual game-winner to clinch the Hawks a spot in the SUNYAC Finals for the fifth-straight year, knocking out the Lakers, 55-52.
"First thing you have to do is take your hat off to Oswego," said SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward. "They played really hard and really well. Several of their players just left it out there, everything that they had. They took it to us early, getting on loose balls and kind of got us on our heels and kept us there."
Oswego locked in defensively and held SUNY New Paltz to just 29 percent shooting from the field, but didn't have an answer for Fitzgerald who tallied 13 of the team's 22 points at the break to keep her team within six after a hot start by the hosts instigated by its prowess on the boards led by Giavanna White-Principio who finished with a game-high 15 rebounds, five on which on the offensive glass.
"This team loves competition," Fitzgerald said. "They had momentum, but it was just fueling our fire and just kind of making us want it more. If they're going to punch us in the mouth, we're just going to do it back and we're going to do it over 40 minutes. Like coach said, hats off to them. They gave us a hard game for 40 minutes and I think that at the end of the day we just finished stronger than them."
The Lakers held the momentum entering the second quarter after banking a last-second buzzer beater to go up by 10. Fitzgerald and Madison Mullman cut the difference down to six after hitting back-to-back 3's early in the quarter and although the Hawks still struggled finding the bottom of the net, their defense stayed true to what they've done all season and forced turnovers. Oswego finished with 26 turnovers with 13 coming in the second half.
Fitzgerald continued making plays on both ends of the floor, picking the pocket of Sydney Hoefs for the steal and going coast-to-coast to cut the score at 28-22 by halftime.
SUNY New Paltz trailed throughout the third quarter but chipped away with plays on the defensive end. Jenny Walton stepped into a Laker passing lane for a steal and pushed down the floor and found Julia Sabatino who earned the bucket and foul to give the Hawks a spark. Sabatino on back-to-back plays earned a block and then hustled to win the ball for a steal leading to a Fitzgerald 3-pointer to cut the score to 44-35 with less than a minute to go.
"We hung in there I guess and made enough plays and if [Brianna Fitzgerald] didn't make enough shots there we'd be saying all the other things we just said about Oswego, but we were able to make a couple extra plays and a lot of people made important contributions," Seward said. "[Fitzgerald] was the obvious one, anybody could see that but Gabby [Palladino] and Madison, and Jenny did some things defensively in spite of really struggling offensively and Erin [Cooney] coming in to get that ball in-bounds after not playing the whole game, so we'll take it."
The Hawks had a huge fourth quarter, out-scoring the Lakers, 20-9 to erase what was as many as a 15-point deficit.
Walton had an uncharacteristically poor shooting night but hit a huge triple, her only make of the game, but came in at the most opportune time to break a 0-for-14 slump to cut the score to 46-40 with eight minutes to go. Following a defensive stand for SUNY New Paltz, Mullman knocked down another huge shot as the Lakers left her open on the perimeter.
Hoefs came up with an offensive board and put-back to push Oswego back up by five, but two plays later, Sabatino caused a turnover on a steal leading to a 3-pointer for Fitzgerald who drained the shot off a ball screen to get her team within two at 48-46 with just less than six minutes to go.
SUNY New Paltz hovered around its first lead of the day and after the Lakers built a five-point cushion once again thanks to a make inside by White-Principio, Fitzgerald stayed aggressive and attacked the hoop, earning consecutive trips to the foul line where she made 3-for-4 to get the Hawks within a basket once more, this time with about 2:30 left.
Both teams went cold for the next minute-plus, but Fitzgerald turned the game and tied the score at 52 following a steal on Hoefs before heading back to the foul line. This time, the senior sank both attempts to knot the game for the first time and fully swing momentum back toward the hosting Hawks.
The crowd was roaring as the Lakers had the ball on their offensive end, as less than a minute ticked down on the game clock. SUNY New Paltz played tight defensively, forcing a tough, contested 3-pointer from the corner by Macey Deordio which missed the hoop. White-Principio came up with the offensive rebound, but Palladino came over to help and got a piece of the ball, allowing Walton to grab the rebound and push the other way. SUNY New Paltz got the ball across to advance the ball before Seward called a timeout to draw up a play for the potential game-winner.
"There was never a doubt in my mind that we were going to win the game," Palladino said. "Obviously, we struggled a lot shooting and scoring, but especially because we are such an experienced team, we've played some of the best teams in the country, I knew we'd come back just with all the experience that we have."
The Hawks inbounded and found Fitzgerald who feasted on the one-v-one matchup, as she drove, created enough separation with a cross-over before knocking down a step-back jumper for the go-ahead basket, pushing her team ahead, 54-52 for their first lead of the game with 30 seconds left.
"I knew I was going to hit that last shot regardless," Fitzgerald said. "I was kind of hoping it was going to be a 3, as I said to my team, I wanted to hit a 3 this weekend. They played great defense on me. Every time I had the ball I saw five bodies, five green shirts looking to close in on me every time. But I knew that I was going to hit that shot, so I was like, I'm going to take it."
Oswego had life as Zhane Holmes got herself to the foul line following a foul by Palladino, but only made 1-of-2 leaving the Lakers still trailing. Oswego was forced to foul and placed Fitzgerald on the line where she made 1-of-2 to extend the difference to two. After exchanging a series of timeouts, the Lakers took the ball out on their side of the floor with the Hawks playing the perimeter tight. DeOrdio was forced to heave up an attempt, but Palladino came over on the double to swat the shot and grab the loose ball before dribbling out the rest of the clock to seal her team's trip back into the SUNYAC finals.
"I want to win a SUNYAC Championship and I didn't want my season to end like that for selfish reasons," Palladino said. "I want to win a championship, so it was really important to me and for us to win and stick it out. Also, I had a stupid foul so I was glad I could make up for that by clinching the win."
Fitzgerald clinched her 10th double-double of the season after scoring 35 of her team's 55 points on 13-for-28 shooting with 12 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and five steals — all team-highs — in 40 minutes of play. With the offensive output on the night, the Dix Hills, NY native put herself just four points away from breaking the team's scoring record held by 2017 alumna Kit Small.
"I know at some point I am going to have to end up with the ball in my hands, trying to make a play but on the other side of that you want to get the ball moving and get everybody touching it, and make everybody have to be guarded," Fitzgerald said. "But essentially we were running our plays. Everybody was cutting hard, and everybody did their part so that I could have the opportunity to make some plays."
Walton and Mullman followed offensively with six points apiece. Walton added six rebounds, three assists and four steals. Semaiah Williams chipped in with four points, five rebounds and two blocks.
SUNY New Paltz season continues with redemption at its seventh SUNYAC title and first since the 2021-22 season after falling at home in the finals last season. The Hawks will face a No. 3 seeded Geneseo team that defeated the second seeded and reigning conference champions SUNY Cortland in the other semifinal of the night, 61-58. SUNY New Paltz earned both wins in the regular season series. The two will fight one more time with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and a SUNYAC trophy on the line. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. in the Hawk Center.
SUNY New Paltz Post-Game Presser Featuring coach Jamie Seward, Brianna Fitzgerald & Gabby Palladino
Oswego Post-Game Presser Featuring coach Sean Pinkerton, Giavanna White-Principio & Macey DeOrdio