Senior Madison Slagle (Rome/Rome Catholic) scored a game high 20 points in leading the SUNY Oneonta women's basketball team to a 65-61 win versus Buffalo State in the SUNYAC opener for both squads.  Oneonta won its second straight and is now 2-3 overall while the Bengals lose for the first time this season.

The difference in tonight's contest came at the foul line as Oneonta outscored Buffalo State 22-12.  The Red Dragons connected on 22-of-26 while the Bengals hit only 12-of-19.  Oneonta hit its last nine free throws over the final seven minutes including four each by Slagle and classmate Samantha Szkotak (New York Mills/New York Mills).  Szkotak was the other Red Dragon in double figures tonight with 13 points.

Oneonta was trailing 46-40 after junior Alicia Bowman (Albany/Guilderland) hit a jumper with 9:17 remaining in the game.

Oneonta put together a quick 9-3 run capped by a lay-up by sophomore Grace Schilling (Northport/Northport), which tied the game for the fourth time at 49-49.  The Red Dragons grabbed its largest lead of the game at five points at 59-54 after a pair of free throws by Szkotak.

Buffalo State came back to tie the score for the last time at 61 apiece after two free throws by senior Barb Kiliszek (Depew/Lancaster).

The two teams battled to an even 29-29 score through the first 20 minutes of play.  The two teams were tied at 6-6 through the first five minutes before Buffalo State began to create some breathing room, opening up a 15-8 lead at the 11:30 mark on a lay-up by Kiliszek.

Still trailing 23-14 with 6:57 to go in the opening half, Oneonta built some momentum and closed the half with a 15-6 run to get even at the break.  The Red Dragons hit seven field goals in the first half, five of them from behind the arc.  Slagle scored 11 points in the opening 20 minutes including nine points from long range.

Junior Staci McElroy (Saratoga Springs/Saratoga Springs) led three Buffalo State players in double figures with 17 points.

Oneonta will be back in action again tomorrow afternoon at home beginning at 2pm versus Fredonia.

Newspaper Box Score

ONEONTA STATE 65, BUFFALO STATE 61

BUFFALO STATE (4-1/0-1)

McELROY, Staci 6-19 5-6 17; KILISZEK, Barb 4-14 2-2 12; SEBUHARARA, Divine 4-7 2-5 10; SMILEY, Bianca 3-8 1-2 7; KOLLAR, Hillary 2-3 0-0 6; BOWMAN, Alicia 2-2 0-0 4; LUCIANI, Olivia 1-2 0-0 3; CRAWFORD, Kala 0-2 1-2 1; BELL, Jazz 0-1 1-2 1; WILLIAMS, Emily 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-60 12-19 61.

ONEONTA STATE (2-3/1-0)

SLAGLE, Madison 6-14 4-4 20; SZKOTAK, Samantha 3-8 6-7 13; REGAN, Gabi 2-9 6-7 10; SCHILLING, Grace 2-6 3-4 7; WILVERDING, Kate 2-2 0-0 5; LONGTO, Sarah 1-3 2-2 4; CRAWFORD, Alyshia 1-3 1-2 3; PAPPALARDO, Kristin 1-7 0-0 3; MULLIGAN, Kelly 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 18-54 22-26 65.

3-point goals--Buffalo State 5-13 (KOLLAR, Hillary 2-3; KILISZEK, Barb 2-8; LUCIANI, Olivia 1-1; McELROY, Staci 0-1), Oneonta State 7-17 (SLAGLE, Madison 4-9; WILVERDING, Kate 1-1; SZKOTAK, Samantha 1-2; PAPPALARDO, Kristin 1-5).

Fouled out--Buffalo State-SMILEY, Bianca, Oneonta State-None.

Rebounds--Buffalo State 44 (McELROY, Staci 8), Oneonta State 37 (LONGTO, Sarah 11).

Assists--Buffalo State 11 (KILISZEK, Barb 3), Oneonta State 14 (SLAGLE, Madison 3; SCHILLING, Grace 3).

Total fouls--Buffalo State 25, Oneonta State 17.

Technical fouls--Buffalo State-None, Oneonta State-None.

A-127