March 4, 2016

Women's Basketball Drops 93-75 Decision to Rowan in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament

GLASSBORO, N.J. – The State University of New York at New Paltz saw their season come to a close as the Hawks fell to host Rowan University, 93-75, in the first-round of the 2016 NCAA Division III Tournament on Friday evening in Esby Gymnasium.

The Hawks conclude their 2015-16 campaign with a 21-7 overall record and secured their second State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) title in program history. The Profs improve to 23-5 on the season and will face Amherst College in the second-round tomorrow at 7 p.m.

New Paltz shot 35.6 (26-of-73) from the floor, held a 49-40 edge in boards and tallied 43 bench points. Rowan was 33-of-69 (47.8 percent) from the field and scored 25 points off turnovers.

Freshman guard Lindsay Bettke (Pelham, N.Y./The Ursuline School) tallied 20 points off the bench to lead the Hawks, hitting 8-of-12 from the field, 2-of-4 from the 3-point range and 2-of-3 from the line. Junior guard/forward Kit Small (Slingerlands, N.Y./Academy of the Holy Names) chipped in 15 points and three assists while converting 6-of-6 from the charity stripe. Junior guard Morgan Roessler (Massapequa, N.Y./Massapequa) contributed 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench for the Hawks.

Junior guard Valerie Garofalo and graduate student guard/forward Kaitlin Schullstrom notched 18 points apiece for Rowan while junior guard Anyssa Sanchez chipped in 14 points. Graduate student forward Kate Matthews notched a double-double 13 points and 11 boards.

Rowan led from tip-off and never relinquished its edge. The Hawks managed to rope the score to 22-20 at the end of the first quarter before Small drained a layup for a 22-all tally early in the second period. The Profs were quick to escape the Hawks, pushing a 19-11 run to head into the locker rooms with a 43-31 advantage.

Coming out of the break, the Profs opened up a 23-point margin for a 56-33 lead. A layup by Bettke at the 3:46 mark brought the score within 13, but the Hawks could not cut the deficit further as the Profs held a 17-point advantage heading into the final stretch.

The Hawks scored the first four points in the opening of the final quarter to slice the margin to 73-60. But the Profs pushed an 18-11 spurt for a comfortable 91-71 gap before sophomore guard/forward Alex Raring capped off Rowan's scoring with a jumper with 1:57 remaining. A three-point play by senior guard Goldie Harrison (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) cut the advantage to 18 but New Paltz would not get further as the clock expired, cementing the victory for Rowan.