Tonight's overtime thriller came as advertised between two of the top teams in the SUNYAC battling for key spots in next week's conference tournament. When the final buzzer sounded it was the visiting Hawks that came out on top in this one 49-44.

With the loss, Oneonta (16-8/14-4) will be the No. 3 seed in this year's tournament while the win for New Paltz (17-8/15-3) earns them no worse than the second seed based on what happens with first place Buffalo State this weekend.

It was Zoe Cohen who hit two big three-pointers in the extra period to lead the way for the Hawks. She finished the game with 11 points, nine of which came from behind the arc.

Oneonta got as close as 46-44 on a basket by Samantha Szkotak (New York Mills/New York Mills) with 1:38 remaining in overtime, but the Hawks held on defensively and made 3-of-5 free throws down the stretch for the final margin of victory.

New Paltz seemed to have control of the game with a 32-25 with 9:26 remaining in the game. A pair of free throws by Shanay Bradley put the Hawks ahead by seven points. Bradley had a game high 18 boards including nine off the offensive glass. In the game, New Paltz had 19 offensive rebounds overall.

It was at that point that Oneonta flipped a switch and ran off 13 unanswered points to seize the momentum and it's first lead of the game. The run was capped with a free throw by sophomore Kristin Pappalardo (Mahopac/Lakeland), which gave the Red Dragons a 38-32 lead with 5:50 left. Pappalardo finished the contest with nine points before fouling out in the final minute of overtime.

A layup by Maliqua Fisher at the 5:13 ended the scoring drought for New Paltz. Three minutes later, the Hawks pulled to within one at 38-37 on a three-pointer by Alex McCullough. McCullough would foul out in the first 15 seconds of overtime, but scored a team high 13 points before departing.

A Szkotak basket at 2:18 gave Oneonta a 40-37 lead. Szkotak was one of two players in double figures tonight for Oneonta, finishing with 11 points. Classmate Madison Slagle (Rome/Rome Catholic) added 11 points as well.

Another three-pointer, this time by Cohen, tied the game at 40 apiece. That would be the last basket of regulation as neither team could get the go-ahead basket. Oneonta had the final possession of the game with six seconds remaining, but a pass by Pappalardo was knocked away and went out of bounds with one-tenth of a second left.

The SUNYAC will announce the pairings for the tournament late tomorrow after all the remaining conference games have been completed. Oneonta will host the No. 6 seed next Tuesday night beginning at 7pm. Admission to the game will be $5 for adults and $2 for students.

Newspaper Box Score
NEW PALTZ 49, ONEONTA STATE 44

NEW PALTZ (17-8/15-3)
McCULLOUGH, Alex 4-10 2-3 13; COHEN, Zoe 4-12 0-0 11; IRWIN, Caitlin 2-11 3-6 9; FISHER, Maliqua 3-10 1-4 7; BRADLEY, Shanay 1-7 2-4 4; GROVER, Bridget 1-4 1-2 3; BRYANT, Kahsyrah 1-2 0-0 2; CLIFFORD, Kaitlin 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 16-62 9-19 49.

ONEONTA STATE (16-8/14-4)
SLAGLE, Madison 2-10 7-10 11; SZKOTAK, Samantha 5-12 1-2 11; PAPPALARDO,
Kristin 4-7 1-5 9; MULLIGAN, Kelly 1-2 2-4 4; SCHILLING, Grace 2-5 0-0 4;
CRAWFORD, Alyshia 1-5 1-2 3; LONGTO, Sarah 0-1 1-2 1; REGAN, Gabi 0-3 1-2 1;
SIMPRI, Vania 0-0 0-0 0; WELYTOK, Ashley 0-1 0-0 0; WILVERDING, Kate 0-0 0-0
0. Totals 15-46 14-27 44.

3-point goals--New Paltz 8-19 (COHEN, Zoe 3-6; McCULLOUGH, Alex 3-4; IRWIN,
Caitlin 2-5; BRYANT, Kahsyrah 0-1; CLIFFORD, Kaitlin 0-3), Oneonta State
0-10 (SLAGLE, Madison 0-1; SZKOTAK, Samantha 0-3; PAPPALARDO, Kristin 0-2;
CRAWFORD, Alyshia 0-2; REGAN, Gabi 0-2).
Fouled out--New Paltz-McCULLOUGH, Alex, Oneonta State-PAPPALARDO, Kristin. Rebounds--New Paltz 46 (BRADLEY, Shanay 18), Oneonta State 43 (SLAGLE, Madison 12).
Assists--New Paltz 9 (IRWIN, Caitlin 4), Oneonta State 6 (SLAGLE, Madison 3).
Total fouls--New Paltz 18, Oneonta State 19.
Technical fouls--New Paltz-None, Oneonta State-None.
A-181