New Paltz 2011-12 women's basketball season preview

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – After making the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Women's Basketball Championship Tournament for the sixth straight year in 2010-11, the Hawks are aspiring for greater heights in 2011-12—winning the program's first-ever SUNYAC title and qualifying for the 2012 NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship Tournament.

Sixth-year head coach Jamie Seward has been the architect of the team's recent success, as he will be closing in on 100 career wins this year with a career record of 87-48. In 2010-11, the Hawks went 16-11 overall and 13-5 in the SUNYAC, earning the No. 3 seed in the conference's championship tournament. New Paltz topped SUNY Oswego, 69-54, in the quarterfinals but was tripped up by SUNY Oneonta in the semifinal round.

"A lot of people would say we had a good year after losing six seniors the year before, but we were disappointed to be perfectly honest with you," Seward said. "We really expected with the talent that we had that, by the end of the year, we would be the best team in the league, and we kind of hit a plateau at the end portion of January and never really got back up to the level that we had anticipated on."

Seward's teams have made the Hawk Center a difficult place for opponents to visit, as New Paltz is 53-11 at home since its opening in 2006. Last year, the Hawks went 9-0 against league opposition on their home hardwood, which included a victory over eventual conference champion SUNY Geneseo.

"I think that with everything that goes along with playing at home—being comfortable, knowing your surroundings, being able to go through your normal routine, not having to get off a bus and have to worry about having to play an hour later—more so than anything, it's the pride we take in playing at home," Seward said. "We don't want to allow anyone to come in, step on our home floor and take that away from us."

Last year's team featured no seniors, meaning that Seward brings back his entire starting five. This season's roster is littered with upperclassmen, as there are six seniors and four juniors.

"With last year's team, we had a ton of talent, but we didn't have a lot of experience," Seward said. "However, I would always trade experience for talent. I would rather have talent that doesn't have the experience rather than the other way around. That being said, now I think we have a nice combination of both."

A Second-Team All-SUNYAC selection in 2010-11, junior guard Maliqua Fisher (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) is the team's playmaker, as she did just about everything last year from playing lockdown perimeter defense to running the point. Now with the addition of a freshman point guard, Fisher's load is lightened, which will make her even more of a scoring threat. She averaged a team-best 11.7 points per game in 2010-11 and shot a league-best 51.8 percent from the floor. Beyond her scoring numbers, she also pulled down 6.1 rebounds per game.

Junior forward Alex McCullough (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) is New Paltz's other returning All-Conference player. She ranked first on the team and second in the conference in blocked shots per game (1.93) and also chipped in 9.9 points per game. McCullough's 52 blocks last year was the fourth-highest single-season total in program history, and she ranks third in program history in career blocks with 77. Expect her to continue to have an impact down on the low block this season.

New Paltz's senior captains—Kaitlin Clifford (Staten Island, N.Y./Curtis) and Caitlin Irwin (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Kearney)—fill that capacity for the second consecutive year, and each have plenty of experience in the backcourt, having started in all 27 games in which they played last year. Clifford averaged 5.6 points per game and totaled 57 assists, while Irwin scored 6.3 points per game and dished out a team-high 62 assists.

After averaging a league-best 9.7 rebounds per game last year, senior forward Shanay Bradley (Bronx, N.Y./New Explorers) gives the Hawks a dominant post presence. She averaged 7.0 points per game, shooting 77-of-190 (40.5 percent) from the floor, and she also blocked 33 shots.

Seward believes that junior guard Kahsyrah Bryant (North Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon) made some real strides from the end of last season and will be one of the team's top players. She averaged 5.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game last year, but her work ethic in practice has helped elevate the squad's level of play.

Senior guard Zoe Cohen (Brooklyn, N.Y./The Berkeley Carroll School) ignited the attack on numerous occasions last year, as she was a real three-point threat coming off the bench. Cohen was third on the team in scoring with 8.6 points per game, and she shot 38.6 percent from long range (34-of-88).

Other returners for the Hawks are senior guard/forward Bridget Grover (Rockville Centre, N.Y./Holy Trinity), sophomore forward Jeanette Scott (West Babylon, N.Y./North Babylon), sophomore forward Elizabeth Hauser (East Williston, N.Y./Sacred Heart) and senior guard/forward Samantha DelGaudio (Northport, N.Y./Northport).

New Paltz welcomes five newcomers to the program this year. Headlining this group is freshman point guard Shannan Walker (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal), who has already received the starting nod from Seward. Walker's work ethic and basketball IQ make her a strong fit for the point guard position, but her athleticism makes her a real weapon immediately. Sophomore point guard Pippa Mansdorf (Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.) comes to New Paltz after having competed for the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire during the 2009-10 season, where she saw action in 12 contests. Other newcomers include freshman point guard Deanna Molinelli (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place), freshman guard/forward Monique Myers (New York City, N.Y./Richard R. Green) and junior forward Jeannette Harris (New York City, N.Y./Food & Finance).

The Hawks will be tested immediately coming out of the gates, as they will face off with two teams ranked in the top 10 in the D3hoops.com Preseason Top-25 Poll the first two weeks of the season. After traveling to regional-rival Mount Saint Mary College to open its season on Nov. 15, New Paltz will head out to the University of Rochester to compete in the two-day Chuck Resler Tournament from Nov. 18-19. During that tournament, the Hawks square off with host Rochester at 6 p.m. on Nov. 18 and will face either Baruch College or Wittenberg University in the consolation or championship on Saturday. They meet up with William Paterson University on the road on Nov. 22 before contesting the Stevens Institute of Technology in its home opener on Nov. 29.

That bout against the Ducks opens up a five-game home stand, as four different SUNYAC teams come into town from Dec. 2-10. Before the winter break, New Paltz faces off with Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J. Upon returning from break, the Hawks host non-conference Eastern Connecticut State University on Jan. 4, and from that point forward, they finish out the remainder of their SUNYAC schedule, playing 14 games. The 2012 SUNYAC Championship Tournament runs on three dates: the quarterfinals are on Feb. 21 at the sites of the top-four seeds, and the semifinals and final run from Feb. 24-25 at the site of the highest-remaining seed.

While Seward's expectations continue to rise for this talented group, he stresses that the number one goal this year is to have the team savor the daily habits of being a college basketball player and not focus on the end goal of making the postseason.

"Above all else, our goal is to truly enjoy the ride and enjoy the day-to-day process and enjoy the grind, not being so focused on the end goal," Seward said. "That's our number one goal: to make the most out of every day that we can."