NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – The College at Brockport Women's Basketball team kept pace with the top team in the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) standings holding a lead heading into the fourth quarter before New Paltz pulled away claiming a 72-60 win.

Brockport (12-10 Overall, 8-7 SUNYAC) finished the game sending the Hawks to the free throw line an unbelievable 43 times compared to the Golden Eagles 15 times at the charity stripe. The Golden Eagles continued its strong free throw shooting ways making 11-of-15 while New Paltz sank 25-of-43.

Late in the third quarter, Brockport utilized the three pointer as its weapon of choice as Faith Welch brought the Golden Eagles within a single point with a triple. The Green and Gold trailed 45-44 after Welches three which preceded another Golden Eagle shot from downtown to give them the lead. Alyssa Wagner drove down the center lane and dished the ball out to Megan Anagnostopulos who hit her fourth three pointer of the game to put Brockport ahead 47-45 with three minutes left in the third quarter.

New Paltz answered back to tie things up at 47-47 but Hannah Spencer was fouled and converted two free throws to put the Green and Gold back on top. The Hawks evened things back up with two free throws of their own before a Welch three put Brockport ahead 52-49 with a little more than a minute to go in the third. Wagner's two clutch free throws towards the end of the third quarter kept Brockport ahead at the end of three with a score of 54-52.

The Golden Eagles went scoreless in the first seven minutes of play in the fourth quarter while New Paltz scored 15 unanswered points to take a 67-54 lead. Erin Cunningham was the first Golden Eagle to find the basket in the fourth as Brockport left too little time to mount a comeback.

The College at Brockport Women's Basketball team played with resiliency during the first half of play against New Paltz, trailing by only two points entering the second half with a 36-34 score against the SUNYAC's top team in the standings. Faith Welch led the team with 17 points at the half with freshman Megan Anagnostopulos chipping in nine points on three-of-four shooting from beyond the arc. Olivia Suhr led the game with 10 rebounds in the first half alone.

In the first half the Golden Eagles fell behind by seven points in the opening minutes of the first quarter. Suhr put the team on the board which was followed by a Welch two pointer as well cutting the deficit down to 7-4. Welch scored seven points in the first quarter to keep the team close trailing 19-16 at the end of one quarter.

Anagnostopulos tied things up in the opening minute of play in the second quarter with a three pointer. Brockport then took the momentary lead when Welch converted another three pointer putting the Golden Eagles ahead 22-19. New Paltz answered back immediately with a three of its own to tie things back up. Welch made another triple with Anagnostopulos assisting on the basket. However the Hawks scored the next seven points to regain the lead and control of the half as they held the 36-34 advantage after the first half of play.

Welch led the team with 26 points while Suhr corralled 13 rebounds and also led the team with three assists and three blocks. Cunningham led the team with two steals. Anagnostopulos finished the game a strong four-of-nine from beyond the arc.

Brockport travels to Cortland on Tuesday for a battle to climb back up the SUNYAC standings. The Golden Eagles and Red Dragons tip off at 5:30 p.m. Be sure to stay up to date on all your Golden Eagle scores and awards by following @BportAthletics on Twitter and by liking the "Brockport Golden Eagles" Facebook page.