Box Score New Paltz, NY – The State University of New York at New Paltz women's basketball team couldn't complete a late fourth quarter rally Tuesday against visiting Vassar College and ultimately took its second loss of the season after falling, 75-63.

The Hawks (2-2) had a slow start in their home opener, giving up 28 first quarter points after the Brewers (4-1) scored 15-straight within the first four minutes and trailed by 16 entering the second period.

"Again, the same old story, we don't defend," said SUNY New Paltz coach Jamie Seward. "We defended a little bit in the second half, so that was some positive we can take out of that. But late in the game we had a couple break downs and we just have to be better honestly to win games against quality competition."

Vassar played tight defense the entire first half and led by as much as 20. It held the Hawks to just 17.6 percent shooting from the field in first quarter and 23.5 percent in the first half, while the Brewers knocked down 50 percent from the floor.

"I think we just played a great defensive game," said Vassar coach Candice Signor-Brown. "We got after it on the defensive end. For a team that averages 80 points to keep them at 63 points that is just a great defensive effort. I was proud in the way we played. We didn't play as well in the second half as we did in the first, but it balanced out and I think overall our defensive effort kept us in the game."

However, the Hawks stormed back late in the fourth quarter led by Marion Dietz and Maddie Van Pelt.

After trailing by 14 entering the final 10 minutes, SUNY New Paltz slowly chipped away at the deficit. A bucket by Dietz, followed by a 3 from Sandi Harris and a made jumper by Van Pelt on consecutive plays cut the score, 55-45 with 7:44 remaining.

On the ensuing offensive possession, Van Pelt worked her way inside the lane and earned a trip to the foul line. She made 1-of-2, but Rachel Simon showed great hustle on the second attempt to collect the offensive board and knock down the corner 3 for the Hawks to bring the game within six.

Following a basket by the Brewers' Samarah Cook (five points), SUNY New Paltz answered with back-to-back jumpers by Harris and Van Pelt to cut the score, 57-53 with 5:37 left.
However, SUNY New Paltz couldn't make a key stop down the stretch to get closer than four.

With 1:24 remaining, Ariella Rosenthal (16 points, 10 rebounds) came up with a big defensive rebound and capitalized on the other end, getting her basket to go in the paint and earning the foul, which then put the Brewers back up seven to stall the Hawks' momentum.

"They had a couple layups and then the three-point play that put them up seven that kind of killed any momentum we had," Seward said. "A couple different times we had it to four and had a possession that we helped on, but we didn't make the next rotation and as a result they got wide-open layups off it. It was two key possessions late in the fourth quarter."

SUNY New Paltz finished the game shooting 32.4 percent from the field and 21.3 percent from 3-point range (6-28). The Brewers also kept the Hawks' leading scorer Lindsay Bettke to her lowest scoring total of the season, as she registered two points in 36 minutes.

"We definitely tried to key in on Lindsay," Signor-Brown said. "She's a great player. She works really hard. She has a quick release and we really wanted to buckle down and make sure she wasn't getting open looks, making it as difficult for her as possible."

Dietz and Van Pelt stepped up to lead the team offensively with 19 and 15 points respectively. Dietz added eight rebounds and two assists, while Van Pelt had one of her best outing of the season, shooting 7-for-11 from the field and also totaling seven rebounds, two blocks and an assist.

"Maddie has done a great job and that great because we know how good she is. Coming back from volleyball it's taking her a while to get her feet underneath her and the worst part about it is that she beats herself up so much," Seward said. "We know how good she can be so that was definitely really good to see, hopefully she will continue that. I think she's that kind of player."

Sophie Nick led the Brewers with 21 points, making 5-of-9 from the floor and 11-of-12 from the foul line, while adding seven rebounds and two assists on the night. 

The Hawks hope to bounce back in their first SUNYAC weekend of the season Friday and Saturday against The College at Brockport and SUNY Geneseo, respectively. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday.

"We knew Vassar was a good team, good program and well coached," Seward said. "We knew that we had to come play -- at least we thought we did. They took it to us early and hopefully that's an eye opener as we get into conference play that wakes them up a bit. Like we said afterwards, we're seeing the same things over and over again. Until we put action behind those words it is not going to change anything."

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