BUFFALO, N.Y.— The Buffalo State women's basketball team couldn't complete a fourth quarter comeback, as NCAA Division II D'Youville held off the charging Bengals in a 69-62 decision in the final game of the Betty Abgott Invitational Saturday afternoon.
 
GAME BASICS
FINAL SCORE: D'Youville – 69, Buffalo State – 62, (Betty Abgott Invitational)
LOCATION:  Buffalo State Sports Arena – Buffalo, N.Y.
RECORDS:  Buffalo State (3-2), D'Youville (3-0)
 
INSIDE THE BENGAL BOX SCORE

• Fresh off a tournament single-game record 33 points on Thursday, Katie Villarini (Hamburg, NY/Hamburg) grinded out a 24-point performance, adding nine rebounds.
• Tashawni Cornfield (Gowanda, NY/Putham) recorded a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double.
• Brianna Smith (Oakfield, NY/Oakfield) finished with 11 points, shooting 4-of-9 from the field, adding seven assists and five rebounds.
• The Bengals held D'Youville to 27.3 percent (21-of-77) shooting from the field

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Bengals fell down early, as a cold shooting start gave D'Youville a 16-6 lead after one quarter.
• 'State roared back to begin the second quarter, going on a 13-2 run to take a 19-18 lead.
• D'Youville responded with a run of its own to take a four-point lead, but baskets by Heaven Rollek (Springville, NY/Springville-Griffith) and Villarini gave the Bengals a 29-28 lead.
• Smith hit a 3-pointer with seven seconds left in the half, as the Bengals went into the break with a three point, 33-30 lead.
• The Saints got hot in the third quarter, outscoring the Bengals, 22-15, and used a floater from Sara Pfeiffer and layup from Stella Mollica to take a four-point lead at 52-48 into the final quarter of play.  
• The Saints scored eight straight points to begin the fourth, as they held their largest lead of the game at 60-48.
• The Bengals clawed back with an 11-1 run, and an and-one basket by Adiya Jones (Washington, DC/McKinley Technology) brought D'Youville's deficit to two at 61-59 with 1:26 to go in regulation.
• On D'Youville's next possession, Anna Jankovic converted on a three-point play of her own to bring the lead up to five, before Cornfield answered with a jumper on the other end.
• With the ball and a chance to tie the game with 24 seconds left, the Bengals were unable to get the game-tying basket, and the Saints made five free throws in the final 19 seconds to escape with the seven-point win.

FOR THE FOES

• Jankovic led D'Youville with 20 points and 13 rebounds.
• Pfeiffer and Mollica each added 16 points.
• Riley Riedel finished with eight points, 14 rebounds, and four blocked shots.
• The Saints scored 19 points off Bengal turnovers and earned 20 second-chance points.

 
NOTABLES

• Villarini set a Abgott Invitational record with 57 points in two games, eclipsing the record of 55 set by John Carroll's Katlyn Spahar in 2015.

 
UP NEXT
The Bengals will take a break, returning to action with a SUNYAC contest at Oswego on Friday, Dec. 3 at 5:30 p.m.