BUFFALO, N.Y.— Villa Maria drained nine 3-pointers to slip past host Buffalo State, 68-63, in today's opening round of the Betty Abgott Invitational at the Sports Arena.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Villa Maria – 68, Buffalo State - 63
LOCATION: Sports Arena - Buffalo, N.Y.
RECORDS: Villa Maria (4-1), Buffalo State (1-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Liv LeBaron (Horseheads/Corning Painted Post) led Buffalo State with 15 points and added nine rebounds and three blocks.
- Kaelee Lynch (Atwater, CA/Buhach Colony) chipped in 12 points off the bench, while Mariah Rosario (Flushing/RFK) pulled down a team-best 11 rebounds.
- LeBaron hit a pair of early 3's to open the scoring and Buffalo State jumped out to a 9-0 lead, but the Vikings battled back to even the score at 14-14 early in the second quarter.
- Villa Maria led 33-31 at halftime. After three lead changes in the third quarter, the teams entered the final frame tied at 45-45.
- There were five more lead changes in the fourth quarter with Villa having an answer everytime the Bengals nudge ahead.
- A 3-pointer by Bianca Brown with just under a minute remaining broke a 63-63 tie and the Vikings hit a pair of late free throws to put the game away.
- Buffalo State was 12 of 37 from 3-point range.
FOR THE FOES
- Shaquana Owens led Villa Maria with 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
- Bianca Brown added 19 points and 11 boards.
NOTEWORTHY
- Brooklyn rolled past Pitt-Greensburg, 81-36, in the early game. Chanel Jemmott led the Bulldogs to the win with 17 points and seven rebounds.
UP NEXT
Buffalo State will host Brooklyn tomorrow to close out the Betty Abgott Invitational tomorrow at 1 p.m.
