FREDONIA, N.Y.—Buffalo State and Fredonia squared off in today's regular season finale with the sixth and final SUNYAC playoff position awaiting the winner, and the visiting Bengals pulled away in the second half for a 74-60 victory to secure their first postseason berth since 2015.
 
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE:  Buffalo State – 74, Fredonia - 60
LOCATION: Dods Hall – Fredonia, N.Y.
RECORDS: Buffalo State (12-13/8-10), Fredonia (9-16/7-11)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Junior Grace Licata (Williamsville/Williamsville South) paced Buffalo State's offense with a career-high 21 points, including hitting 7 of 11 from 3-point range.
• Senior Caleh McLean (New Rochelle/New Rochelle) helped extend her career by netting 18 points to go with seven rebounds.
• Liv LeBaron (Corning/Corning East) recorded a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards, along with dishing out five assists, and Mariah Rosario (Flushing/RFK) tallied eight points and eight rebounds.
• LeBaron and Licata hit a pair of 3-pointers to open the game giving Buffalo State an early 6-0 lead, but Fredonia rallied to even the score at 17-17 to close out the first quarter.
• The Bengals mounted a 12-4 run to open the second quarter, but Fredonia erased the deficit again before hitting a late layup to take a 35-33 edge into halftime.
• Buffalo State dominated stretches of the third quarter and led by as many as nine before a late Fredonia 3-pointer cut the Bengals advantage to 51-45 entering the final frame.
• A McLean jumper and Licata's sixth 3 of the game to open the fourth quarter pushed the Bengals lead to double-digits and Buffalo State pulled away from there.
• Buffalo State extended its lead to 20 with less than four minutes remaining and coasted to the victory.
• The Bengals shot 40 percent from beyond the arc for the game, outscoring Fredonia, 30-9 from long range.
• Both teams struggled at the free throw line with the Bengals finishing 10 of 19 (53%), and Fredonia converting just 13 of 24 (54%).
• Buffalo State protected the ball, committing a season-low 10 turnovers.

 
FOR THE FOES

• Jenna Einink led Fredonia with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
• Jacque Law added 14 points and five assists, and Anna Chiacchia scored 13 points.

 
NOTEWORTHY

• Buffalo State also earns one point in the season-long Battle by the Lake series between the two schools, cutting Fredonia's lead to 11-4.
• Buffalo State's current four-game winning streak is its longest since 2014-15.

 
UP NEXT
Buffalo State will visit No. 3 Cortland for a SUNYAC Quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.