BUFFALO, NY— New Paltz (16-8/12-5) outscored visiting Buffalo State (12-12/9-8) 24-6 from 3-point range en route to a 73-63 victory tonight in a SUNYAC contest.
Ashley Wallace (Lockport/Starpoint) poured in 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Buffalo State.
Olivia Luciani (E. Syracuse/E. Syracuse-Minoa) added 13 points and five assists, and
Keyonte Edwards (Buffalo/O'Hara) scored 12 points.
New Paltz opened the scoring with a 3-pointer and never trailed. The Hawks used a 13-0 run midway through the first half to open up a 17-point lead and held a 45-32 advantage at the break. Buffalo State fell behind by 18 early in the second half, but stormed back with a 13-0 run of its own to cut the deficit to five with 12:47 remaining. That was as close as the Bengals would get however, as the Hawks answered with another 3 and did not look back.
Buffalo State shot 41 percent from the field, but was just 2 of 11 from beyond the arc. The Hawks hit only 36 percent from the floor, but were 8 of 20 from long range. The Hawks also outscored Buffalo State at the charity stripe, 17-9, and forced the Bengals to commit a season-worst 27 turnovers.
Buffalo State will conclude its regular season tomorrow at Oneonta at 4 p.m. Buffalo State needs a win and a Plattsburgh loss against Geneseo to secure a home playoff game on Tuesday.
