SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – A late-game rally came up a few buckets short for the Union College women's basketball team on Friday afternoon, as the team finished off 2022 on the wrong side of a 50-37 defeat to SUNY New Paltz at Viniar Athletic Center.
 
Junior Grace Enselek led Union (3-6) with eight points in 14 minutes off the bench, followed by senior Megan Lee with six points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Junior Kennedy Clark added six points, four steals and three rebounds in a team-best 33 minutes of action.
 
Brianna Fitzgerald just missed a double-double for New Paltz (9-3), filling up the stat sheet with 16 points, nine boards, four assists, four steals and three blocks. Maddie Gillis also reached double figures with 12 points for the Hawks.
 
The game started auspiciously for the home team, with junior Maura Conan sinking a three on the game's first possession and senior Kendall Degenhardt adding a pair of freebies to put Union up 5-0 less than a minute into the contest. However, Conan's basket was Union's lone made three of the game, as the team missed on their next 11 attempts from long range. New Paltz responded with 13 of the period's last 15 points to take a 13-7 lead.
 
The Union defense held New Paltz off the scoreboard for nearly five minutes to start the second stanza, but the offense could only put a two-point dent into the deficit before the Hawks ended on a 7-2 run to take a 20-11 lead into halftime.
 
The visitors led by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter, but Union made a run to get back into the contest. Down 43-28 with 7:34 to go, the home team scored eight straight points – with two each coming from Enselek, Lee, Degenhardt and senior Olivia Pachla – to get within seven with 3:38 on the clock. The defense forced two turnovers and Union had three chances to get within five, but the shots didn't fall and a three by Graci Serravillo with 1:52 left helped to seal the win for the Hawks.
 
Union had another tough shooting day, connecting on 28.6 percent (16 of 56) of its total shots from the field and 1-of-12 from beyond the arc. Combined with 21 turnovers that New Paltz converted into 20 points, the home team could not capitalize on a defense that limited the Hawks to just 32.7 percent (18 of 55) shooting from the field and a 2-of-21 effort (9.5 percent) from downtown.
 
Union will look to turn the page along with the calendar, as the team begins a run of 15 straight Liberty League games on Friday, January 6, 2023 at Skidmore College.