Box Score NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – In perhaps its toughest, most emotional game of the season, the Plattsburgh State women’s basketball team couldn’t say the third time was the charm for a second consecutive outing.
 
Kathleen Payne scored a game-high 23 points, but a late New Paltz surge eliminated the Cardinals in the SUNYAC Championship Tournament semifinals as the Hawks took a 63-59 decision at the Hawk Center on Friday night.
 
With the loss, the Cardinals wrap up their season with a 15-12 overall record – bettering its win total from the previous season for the third consecutive season. The Hawks improve to 23-3 and will face SUNY Geneseo in the championship game of the SUNYAC Tournament on Saturday at 4 p.m.
 
Plattsburgh State knew it had the tools to defeat the Hawks, as they clubs had already played two hard-fought games in the 2012-13 regular season including one that had to be settled in overtime.
 
New Paltz opened the game on a 4-0 run before Payne put the Cardinals on the board with a make from downtown. Playing in what would prove to be her final collegiate basketball game, Catherine Cassidy gave the Cardinals their first lead of the tilt.
 
The senior barreled inside and got her contested layup to fall before stepping to the line to complete the old-fashioned three-point play that made things 6-4 Plattsburgh State with 17:01 to go in the opening frame.
 
That lead by the Cardinals was short-lived, though, as the Hawks surged ahead to take a seven-point lead with 10:09 to go in the half. After staking the home team to its largest lead of the frame, the Cardinals began the process of chipping away at the lead.
 
Although she is rarely the first offensive option for the Cardinals, it was Ayomide Adedapo who banked home a layup to get Plattsburgh State rolling. From there, Payne drilled yet another triple before Michelle Valle hit a free throw to push the New Paltz lead back to three.
 
Adedapo hit another jumper on the ensuing Plattsburgh State possession, shrinking the lead for the home team to just one, before another pair of Cardinals joined the battle.
 
With 4:22 to go in the frame, Yazmin Lewis stepped to the charity stripe and sunk a pair of free throws before Tequilla Lloyd came into the picture. The junior gave the Cardinals the lead once again with a fast break layup that made matters 25-24 with 4:02 to go in the first stanza.
 
Lloyd was at it again on the next Plattsburgh State possession, hitting a short jumper in the painted area that pushed the lead for the Cardinals to 27-24.
 
On the heels of a 4-0 New Paltz spurt, Payne hit a pair of jumpers in the final 1:56 of the half, sending the Cardinals to their locker room with a 31-30 lead at the half.
 
Early on in the deciding frame, New Paltz seemed to be wearing down the Cardinals. The Hawks took their largest lead of the game at 48-40 after Alex McCullough nailed a long ball with 11:17 to go in the game, but the Cardinals were far from finished.
 
Brittany Marshall joined forces with Payne to lead the Cardinals on a 13-2 run that gave the visitors a 53-50 lead with 4:44 to go, setting up a dramatic fight to the finish.
 
After Valle hit two additional free throws, Lloyd responded with a layup and Cassidy kept the Cardinals in front with a make at the foul line that made things 56-54 with 1:22 to go.
 
McCullough, though, hit arguably the biggest shot of the game when she rattled home another trey that gave New Paltz a 57-56 lead with 1:05 remaining.
 
The Hawks saw their lead grow to five with nine seconds left, but Marshall hit a three-pointer with four seconds to go, giving the Cardinals an ounce of life. Unfortunately, Maliqua Fisher sealed the deal with a pair of free throws with two seconds left on the clock to account for the final margin.
 
Aside from Payne, no Plattsburgh State player reached double figures in the scoring column. Marshall scored nine to go along with six rebounds and team-high three assists. Lloyd ripped down a team-high 13 rebounds that helped the Cardinals out-rebound the Hawks 51-38.
 
Valle put in 14 for the Hawks and completed her double-double with a game-high 14 boards. Fisher, McCullough and Alyssa Fratien each chipped in 10 points for the Hawks.
 
The Cardinals limited the Hawks to a 31 percent night from the field (18-of-58), but the home squad went 22-of-29 (75.9 percent) from the free throw line and committed five fewer turnovers than Plattsburgh State.
 
Three Plattsburgh State players, Cassidy, Dana Nucaro and Johni Coryea, played in their final collegiate basketball game – which happened to be a game that the Cardinals were playing in for just the second time in the history of their program.