BUFFALO, N.Y.— Tashawni Cornfield (Gowanda, NY/Putnam) and Katie Villarini (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) combined for 50 points and 12 steals, as the Buffalo State women's basketball team defeated Hilbert in its season opener by a 73-56 score Saturday evening.
 
GAME BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State – 73, Rochester – 56
LOCATION:  Buffalo State Sports Arena – Buffalo, N.Y.
RECORDS:  Buffalo State (1-1), Hilbert (0-4)
 
INSIDE THE BENGAL BOX SCORE

• Cornfield led all scorers with 27 points, (11-for-20 from the field), nine rebounds, and five steals.
• Villarini tallied her first double-double of the season with 23 points, 10 rebounds, seven steals, and five assists.
• Zavia Jaime (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford Senior) added seven points off the bench.
• The Bengals shot 38.7 percent (29-of-75) from the field, and scored 29 points off of 26 Hilbert turnovers.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Scoring started off slow, but the Bengals went on a 13-5 run in the final 4:45 of the period as they led by nine (21-12) after one.
• Buffalo State shot 64.3 percent (9-of-14) in the opening quarter.
• The Bengals kept the lead in double digits throughout the second quarter, leading by as many as 15 points (35-20).
• Hilbert kept Buffalo State off the board for the final 2:17 of the period, as they tallied four points to trail 35-24 at halftime.
• 3-pointers by Jaime and Riley Domin (Getzville, NY/Williamsville South) and a fast break basket by Grace Carey (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island) completed an 8-0 Bengal run as they led by 18 (47-29).
• The Bengals led by 15 (53-38) heading into the final quarter.
• Trailing by 19, Hilbert went on a 9-0 run to bring the deficit to 10, at 62-52.
• Brianna Smith's (Oakfield, NY/Oakfield) assist on a Villarini 3-pointer triggered a back-breaking 11-0 Bengal run, as they took their largest lead of the game at 73-52.
• Hilbert scored the last four points of the contest as the margin settled at 17.

 
FOR THE FOES

• Macy Kisner led Hilbert with 14 points and nine rebounds.
• Alesia Hamm, Grace Zabawa, and Ashley Schroeder each chipped in nine points.
• The Hawks shot 34.6 percent (18-of-52) from the field in the loss.

NOTABLES

• Villarini's 23 points tonight pushed her career total to 980, passing Ashley Wallace '15 for 16^th on the all-time scoring list.
• She stands 20 points away from being the 16^th member of the 1,000 point club.

UP NEXT
The Bengals will continue their four-game homestand with a matchup against Pitt-Bradford from the Sports Arena on Wednesday, beginning at 6 p.m.