CORTLAND, N.Y. – Alex McCullough made 6-of-8 three-pointers, including the tie-breaking trey with 2:16 remaining, and SUNYAC leader New Paltz held on to defeat Cortland, 57-53.

McCullough finished with 21 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots for the Hawks, who improved to 22-2 overall and 16-1 in the conference. Maliqua Fisher added 16 points and game highs of 17 rebounds and five steals, while Shannan Walker led the team with six assists.

Cortland was led by freshman Caysea Cohen's (Stony Brook/Ward Melville) 14 points, five assists and three steals. Junior Megan Touhey (Maine/Maine-Endwell) and sophomore Erin Wolstenholme (Oneonta) scored 11 points apiece and sophomore Lindsey Minor (Wheatley Heights/St. John the Baptist) led the Red Dragons with six rebounds.

Cortland is now 10-12 overall and 8-8 in the SUNYAC. The Red Dragons are currently in a three-way tie for fifth place in the league standings with Buffalo State and Plattsburgh with two games remaining. Cortland completes the regular season this Friday and Saturday with games at Plattsburgh and Potsdam. The top six teams qualify for the SUNYAC postseason tournament.

The Red Dragons led a majority of the first half and entered the locker room at halftime with a 26-24 advantage. McCullough made four three-pointers in the first six minutes of the second half to help New Paltz take a 40-34 lead, and Michelle Valle's layup with 13:57 left gave the Hawks the largest lead of the night at 42-34. Cortland, however, went on a 16-7 run over the next six minutes to take back the lead at 50-49. Touhey made two three-pointers and Wolstenholme and freshman Shannon White (West Islip/St. Anthony's) each hit one three during that run.

A layup by Minor with 7:11 left gave Cortland's its final lead of the night at 52-51. Both team struggled to score over the next five minutes. New Paltz tied the game on a Valle free throw with 5:34 left, and eventually took a 55-52 lead on McCullough's final three-pointer with 2:16 left. Touhey hit one free throw with 1:04 left, and the Red Dragons had a chance, following a New Paltz turnover, to tie the game but a jumper missed the mark with 29 seconds left.

Cortland regained possession after a New Paltz missed foul shot, but the Red Dragons turned the ball over with 19 seconds let. Alyssa Gratien hit the first of two foul shots with 17 seconds left to put the Hawks up three. Cortland missed a potential tying three-pointer with nine seconds remaining, but grabbed the offensive rebound and called timeout. A turnover with just under three seconds left, however, gave the ball back to New Paltz and McCullough hit the first of two foul shots with 1.5 seconds left to seal the win.