OSWEGO, N.Y. -- The Oswego State women's basketball team battled to a 57-53 victory over New Paltz to earn its second SUNYAC win of the season on Saturday afternoon in Max Ziel Gymnasium. Oswego improves to 4-8 overall and 2-4 in the conference while the Hawks fall to 5-6, 2-4. The Lakers have now won three of their last four contests.

New Paltz erased an early 6-0 run to start the game for Oswego, grabbing a 10-point lead with 3:56 left in the second quarter. Oswego responded with an 11-2 run over the next 3:28 to bring the margin to just one point. The Hawks were able to drain a 3-pointer at the buzzer to take a 34-30 lead into the locker room.

From there on out, the Lakers owned the game, opening the third quarter on a 17-4 run over 7:41 of game time. With 2:19 left in the third stanza, Oswego had a 47-38 advantage, the largest margin it held over the Hawks in the tilt. The Lakers would stave off late streaks from New Paltz, who was able to tie the game twice down the stretch. Oswego never allowed the Hawks to regain an edge, however, with a Rachael Windhausen layup and four good Courtney Ameele free-throws being the difference in the final 38 seconds.

Heather Hebert paced the Lakers with a game-high 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the floor and a perfect 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. She completed a double-double with a team-high 11 rebounds.

Also scoring in double-figures for Oswego were Windhausen and Ameele. Both had 10 points, with Windhausen owning a 55.6 shooting percentage (5-for-9).

The two squads tied with 45 rebounds apiece and the entire Laker team were crucial in evening that category. Every player that saw court time for Oswego gathered at least four rebounds. Following behind Hebert's 11 were Alison Nunziato with six, Windhausen and Zana Dillard with five each and Ameele, Quincy Zimmerman and Mary Mazzella collecting four apiece.  

Oswego will now prepare for a nonconference contest with Cazenovia on Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. on the Lakers' home court.