SUNY New Paltz claimed a share of the SUNY Athletic Conference women’s basketball title with a weekend sweep of Plattsburgh and Potsdam.
The Hawks (23-2) topped Plattsburgh 56-44 on Friday and Potsdam 68-48 on Saturday – both on the road – to extend their win streak to 15 games, and pull into a first-place tie with Cortland (22-3) at 17-1 as the regular season came to a close.
Having split their regular-season series, the Hawks and Red Dragons had to wait until Monday to see who gets the top seed and hosting duties for this weekend’s SUNYAC Final Four. New Paltz earned the higher National Power Index (NPI) ranking and got the top seed.
New Paltz will host a 5:30 p.m. semifinal on Friday, Feb. 27, facing the winner of Tuesday’s quarterfinal matchup between No. 5 seed Oswego and host and No. 4 seed Plattsburgh. Cortland will play the 7 p.m. Friday semifinal, taking on the Tuesday winner between No. 6 Oneonta and host and No. 3 seed Canton.
The SUNYAC champion receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III tournament – New Paltz and Cortland are both in strong position for an at-large berth should they falter.
kmcmillan@th-record.com
Twitter: @KenMcMillanTHR
Varsity 845/Mid-Hudson graduates
No. 1 SUNY New Paltz: Deanna Barry, Fr., G (Highland); Grace Koehler, Soph., G/F (Highland)
No. 2 SUNY Cortland: Katie Boyd, Soph., G (Red Hook); Alex Dembinsky, Soph., G (Wallkill); Sam Dembinsky, Soph., F (Wallkill)
No. 4 SUNY Plattsburgh: Samantha Calahan, Fr., G (Highland); Kayla Johannsesen, Soph., G (Our Lady of Lourdes)
No. 5 SUNY Oswego: Jena Russo, Sr., G (New Paltz)
No. 6 SUNY Oneonta: Megan Desrats, Jr., G (Warwick); Tyalia Fret-Thom, Fr., G/F (Ketcham)
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Co-champ SUNY New Paltz women’s basketball extends win streak to 15
Reporting by Ken McMillan, Middletown Times Herald- Record / Times Herald-Record
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