NEW PALTZ, NY – The Alfred University women's basketball team was on the road on Tuesday for a non-conference matchup at SUNY New Paltz.
 
 
The Saxons (4-7, 0-0 Empire 8) played a close first half with a strong New Paltz team before the Hawks pulled away in the final two quarters to pick up their seventh win on the season by a score of 80-47.
 
 
A couple of buckets in the paint along with three pointers from Ana Ion (Bucharest, Romania / Episcopal of Jacksonville) and Jamie Wilcox (Forestville, NY / Pine Valley) helped AU out to a 17-16 advantage after the opening 10 minutes.
 
 
The Hawks tied the game at 24 all during the second quarter with just under eight minutes to play.
 
 
The Saxons momentarily regained the lead before New Paltz finished the first half on a 9-2 run to go into the half time break leading 33-28.
 
 
The Hawks quickly extended their lead in the opening minutes of the third quarter as they went on a 10-2 run to make the score 43-30 with 6:51 to play in the period.
 
 
By the end of the third quarter, the Saxons were able to close the gap slightly and make it an 11 point game headed into the fourth.
 
 
New Paltz made a statement in the final quarter and outscored AU 27-5 to make a game that was relatively close for a majority of play, look more one sided.
 
 
"I am proud of our competition level for about 34 minutes tonight," Head Coach Mike Moskowitz said. "There were two stretches of approximately three minutes where we allowed them to go on runs because of our mistakes. They are a really tough team to play against because they make you uncomfortable. Unfortunately in the fourth quarter we allowed them to get open three's and that really opened it up quickly. Like I told the team after the game, we are undeniably better, tougher and more together than we were before Thanksgiving. Our fight and focus in the last six games has set us up nicely for conference play."
 
 
Ion was the high scorer for the Saxons with 17 points. She also grabbed eight rebounds.
 
Wilcox scored nine while Lyndsey McCoy (Middleburgh, NY / Middleburgh Central) finished with eight points.
 
Samantha Pierre-Louis (Wheatley Heights, NY / Half Hollow Hills West) had a productive game with five points, seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
 
 
The Saxons will open up Empire 8 play in their next game as they host St. John Fisher College this Friday at 7:30PM.