NEW PALTZ, N.Y.— SUNY New Paltz (16-8, 13-5 SUNYAC) defeated SUNY Potsdam women's basketball team (3-21, 1-17 SUNYAC) 85-53 in the Bears' season finale on Saturday afternoon. Senior guard Abbey LaPage (North Bangor, N.Y./Franklin Academy) led Potsdam with 12 points and freshman guard Drew Dufrane (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) contributed 10 points.

In the first quarter, New Paltz started with seven straight points on a pair of lay-ups from Courtney Irby and a three from Morgan Roessler. Junior forward Emily Drake (Athens, N.Y./Coxsackie-Athens) stopped the run with a jump shot with 5:38 to go. Later in the first, the Bears were down nine until senior captains Patti Dorgler (Floral Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) and Meghan Driscoll (Troy, N.Y./Troy) as well as LaPage all scored to cut the deficit to three points. The Hawks finished the quarter with a three and an 18-12 lead.

New Paltz started the second quarter with another 7-0 run. Freshman forward Kim Pike (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H. Calhoun) slowed the momentum with back-to-back baskets. With 3:30 left in the quarter, LaPage was fouled and converted the three-point play to get the Bears within 30-20. The half ended with a jump shot from freshman guard Leah Giavatto (Beacon, N.Y./Beacon), making the score 43-26 New Paltz.

The third quarter was scoreless until the Hawks went on a 13-3 stretch. Of the 13 points, Kit Small had four. For the final 3:48 the Bears outscored the Hawks 10-9, with Dufrane contributing half points for Potsdam.

The final quarter was back-and-forth with Drake, Dufrane, junior forward Keme Fofana (Bronx, N.Y./AECI Charter H.S.) and sophomore Abbey Smith (Bainbridge, N.Y/Bainbridge-Guilford) all scoring for the Bears. New Paltz ended the game with a final 15-6 push to secure the 85-53 victory.

The Hawks had five players score double digits. Paige Niemeyer came off the bench to score 10 points. Small and Roessler also had 10, but the latter completed her double-double with 11 rebounds. Irby finished with 14 and Lindsay Bettke led the team with 22.

New Paltz shot 42 percent from the field, while Potsdam hit 37.5 percent of its shots. The Hawks also had a slight edge in bench points (29-28) and shot 64.3 percent (9-14) from the charity stripe with The Bears hit 63.6 percent (7-11) of their free throws.

The contest marked the conclusion of the careers of seniors Driscoll, Dorgler, LaPage, Sidney Thompson (Akwesasne, N.Y./Massena) and Lyndsey Wadsworth (Northville, N.Y./Northville).