By Jessica Landmann
The Plattsburgh State women’s basketball team traveled out to SUNY New Paltz Feb. 18 for their second-to-last game of the 2021-22 season. The Cardinals fought hard but ultimately fell short in each quarter ending with a final result of 40-71.
The Cardinals played the Hawks earlier in their season with a final score of 38-77. Payton Couture said “Knowing how tough New Paltz is, we had to go into the game with a lot of grit. We put emphasis on limiting the amount of three pointers they took.”
The first quarter started out strong with a layup made by Hannah Ruberto in the first 45 seconds of the game bringing the score to an early 2-0. This was followed two minutes later with two good 3-point shots made 15 seconds apart by New Paltz bringing them into the lead by four points. Thirty seconds later, Ruberto missed two free throws which the Hawks responded with a good layup making the score 2-8. New Paltz wrapped up the quarter after a layup at 6:06 and another with 57 seconds remaining in the quarter for a score of 2-12.
Starting the second quarter, the Cardinals look good with four points one minute in. A jumper made by Mya Smith and a layup made by Couture slightly closing the Hawks lead to a score of 6-12. Only thirty seconds after the Cardinal’s score, New Paltz responded with a jumper adding two more points to their lead. Close to three minutes later, after the Hawks earned four more points, Hope Sullivan came back with a good layup giving two more points to the Cardinal’s scoreboard. With three minutes remaining in the half, the Hawks put six points on the board before a good layup made by Sullivan followed by a free throw sunk by Kayla Doody bringing the final score at half to 11-26.Coming into the second half, Couture said, “For the second half we really tried to focus on our mismatches and take advantage of them.”
Sullivan began the third quarter quickly, only fifteen seconds in, making a free throw. Forty seconds later, Ruberto also made a free throw to give the Cardinals a score of 13-26. The Hawks responded with a jumper and a free throw earning three points to which Hannah Ruberto followed nearly ten seconds later with a layup. A foul by Smith gave the Hawks two free throw attempts, both of which were good to bring the Hawk’s score up by two more points. Sullivan came back, sinking a jumper with seven minutes remaining in the quarter. Back-and-forth scoring, with points scored by Ruberto, Sullivan and Couture with four minutes remaining and a score of 26-39. Then, New Paltz went on a scoring streak with six consecutive points leaving just two minutes left in the quarter. The Cardinals closed out the quarter with a layup by Smith, a layup by Couture, and a free throw by Doody. The third quarter ended with a score of 31-51 and looking for a comeback in the final ten The fourth quarter started similar to the third with a layup from Misa Dowdell earning the Cardinals two points in the first thirty seconds. The Hawks came back quickly however, scoring another two two only thirty seconds later. At 8:39, a foul by New Paltz gave Plattsburgh two free throw attempts, in which Smith made one. Not a minute later, a foul called on Sullivan gave New Paltz two free throw attempts as well, only making one but was shortly followed by a three point shot and a layup giving the Hawks five more points on the scoreboard. With just over five minutes remaining in the game, Kanesha Strider sunk a layup in the paint bringing up Plattsburgh score by two more points. A four point streak by New Paltz was broken with a foul against the Hawks. Brinley Inglee made both of her free throw attempts with just under two minutes left in the quarter to bring in the final points for the Cardinals.
“Having this first year under my belt, I am excited for what is to come in the coming years for me as a cardinal,” Couture said. “I would also like to thank seniors Kayla and Kelly for constantly pushing me to do my best and having such a positive impact on my first year on the team.”
The Plattsburgh Cardinals fell short to the New Paltz Hawks with a final score of 40-71, concluding the second-to-last game of the women’s 2021-22 basketball season.
With a loss in their final game against SUNY Oneonta Feb. 20, the team’s overall season record concludes at 7-18 and their conference record with 4-14.
