Box Score

CORTLAND, N.Y. – Playing its first game since Dec. 6, the State University of New York at New Paltz suffered a 58-49 loss at No. 25 Cortland in the first State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) contest of 2015 on Tuesday afternoon at Corey Gym.
 
The loss gives New Paltz a 4-5 mark with a 1-2 SUNYAC record as the Hawks look to rebound this weekend, hosting Brockport and Geneseo from Jan. 9-10. The Red Dragons, meanwhile, improve to 8-1 overall and 3-0 in the SUNYAC and will host Oswego on Friday, Jan. 9 at 7:30 p.m.
 
Looking for its fourth-straight victory at Cortland, the Hawks managed to shoot just 31.1 percent from the field and were plagued by 15 turnovers throughout the contest. Ten different players managed to score for New Paltz as junior guard Goldie Harrison (Elmont, N.Y./Elmont Memorial) led the way with eight points while chipping in six rebounds and three assists.
 
Junior guard Dariah Duncan (New York City, N.Y./Aquinas) scored seven points off the bench, going 4-of-4 from the charity stripe, and freshman guard/forward Laura Stuart (Levittown, N.Y./Division Avenue) grabbed a team-best seven boards off the bench. For Cortland, junior forward Brittney Dumas scored a game-high 14 points and senior forward Erin Wolstenholme pulled down a contest-best 10 rebounds.
 
After grabbing an early 2-0 lead thanks to a lay-in by sophomore forward Courtney Irby (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale), the Hawks then trailed by 10 points (12-2) with 14:41 to play in the first half. But New Paltz went on a 15-5 run, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers by senior guard Shannan Walker (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) to knot the contest at 17 with a little over six minutes to go in the opening period.
 
New Paltz claimed its second lead of the afternoon soon after, going up by one (19-18) after a layup by senior guard Ashley Riefenhauser (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry). After surrendering the lead, sophomore guard/forward Kit Small (Slingerlands, N.Y./Academy of the Holy Names) knocked down a bucket to give the advantage back to the Hawks with just three minutes left.
 
Freshman guard/forward Jasmine Bryant (Elmont, N.Y./St. Mary's College Prep) hit a jumper with over a minute remaining to tie the game at 23 before Cortland answered with a basket to hand the Hawks a two-point deficit at intermission, 25-23.
 
In the second half, the Red Dragons quickly put the Hawks in a 33-23 hole before New Paltz trimmed the Cortland lead to just seven (33-26) after a steal and fast-break layup by Stuart. Unfortunately, that was the closest that New Paltz would get the rest of the game as Cortland eventually led by as many as 16 points.