Union College Athletics

Down by seven less than five minutes into the second half (43-36, 15:13), the Dutchwomen scored eight straight points, the last two coming from Leah Pepe at the line, to take their first lead since the opening moments at 44-43 with 9:28 remaining. Senior Carly Minehan momentarily knotted the score for New Paltz with a 1-for-2 trip to the stripe (44-44, 8:43), but Union made three of its next four free throws to forge a 47-44 advantage 30 seconds later.

Two more free throws by Minehan got the Hawks back within one (47-46, 7:26), but two straight buckets by Megan Clark, and a later trey by Clark from the top of the key, broke open the contest and gave the Dutchwomen a 54-47 advantage. It remained at least a two-possession game for the remaining five minutes, as Union made seven of 10 free throws during the game’s last 45 seconds to squelch the Hawks’ comeback hopes.

Named to the All-Tournament Team, Clark paced the Dutchwomen with 18 points, adding nine rebounds. Junior Lauren McCormick posted 14 tallies and 13 rebounds for Union, which was 11-for-25 (.440) from the field during the second period while limiting New Paltz to a 7-for-29 (.241) effort.

New Paltz was led by sophomore Caitlin Irwin with 15 points. Senior Kristen Caban had 13 tallies, and classmate Maggie Farrell scored 10 to earn all-tournament team laurels.

New Paltz jumped out to a quick 10-1 lead (16:44) and was ahead by as many as 14 (31-17, 4:31) during the opening half behind 42.9 (6-14) percent shooting from beyond the arc. The Hawks entered the locker room with a 33-26 advantage, led by Caban’s 3-for-5 effort from three-point range for a game-best nine points at the break.