BRADFORD, PA – Senior Ashley Wallace (Lockport, NY/Starpoint) recorded her third double-double of the season with 15 points and a season-high 13 rebounds, but a slow start on the road hindered Buffalo State (4-5) and helped Pitt-Bradford (4-3) to a 77-68 non-conference win over the Bengals on Monday night.

Olivia Luciani (Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse Minoa) opened up scoring in the game, hitting a jumper one minute into play. Hillary Kollar (Johnstown, NY/Johnstown) added two free throws a minute later to give Buffalo State a four point lead. However, Pitt-Bradford quickly put together a 15-2 run to take a nine point lead with 11:36 to play in the first half.

The Bengals tried to chip away at the Panthers lead, but strong shooting kept Pitt-Bradford ahead. With 4:31 on the clock, a free throw from Brittnee Perry (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech) cut the Panthers lead to four. Once again, Pitt-Bradford quickly responded, taking a 9-2 run and pushing their lead back out to 11 with just over a minute left in the half.

Wallace was fouled in the last 44 seconds and hit the layup and the free throw to cut the Bengals deficit to eight points heading into halftime.

Buffalo State came out stronger in the second half. The Bengals started things out with a 7-2 run to bring the game to a tie at 16:26. A three pointer from Kollar 45 seconds later gave the Bengals their first lead since the opening minutes of the game.

With 11:28 to play, Niasha Houpe (Rochester, NY/William Floyd) scored a layup to put Buffalo State back on top by one point, but it would be the last time the Bengals would have the lead. Pitt-Bradford responded with two quick jumpers to go up by three points with under 10 minutes left in the game. The Bengals did manage to bring the game back to a tie at 3:06, but the Panthers hit their free throws down the stretch to hang onto the lead.

The Bengals finished the game shooting 40.6% (26-64) from the floor, 25% (4-16) from long range and 54.5% from the free throw line. Pitt-Bradford finished the game shooting 44.1% (26-59) from the floor and 61% (25-41) and missed on two attempts from long range. The Panthers took advantage of Bengal turnovers, scoring 23 points off of them.

Luciani paced the way on offense with 20 points and six assists. Kollar chipped in nine points and five rebounds, while Keyonte Edwards (Buffalo, NY/O'Hara) added eight points.

Buffalo State takes a three week break for the Holidays and will return to action against Brockport on Tuesday, Jan. 6 for the start of conference play at 7:30 p.m. in Sports Arena.