BUFFALO, NY—Host Buffalo State (1-0) raced past Thiel (0-1) for a 90-76 victory in the opening round of the Betty Abgott Invitational, after Ohio Wesleyan (1-0) defeated Hamilton (0-1), 61-52 in the opening game.
Buffalo State jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opener, and never looked back, taking a 42-28 lead into halftime. The Bengals stretched the lead to as many as 26 in the second half before coasting to the victory.
Ashley Wallace (Lockport/Starpoint) scored 21 points and added eight rebounds to help lead Buffalo State. Junior Jordan Yastremski (Bath/Bath-Haverling) recorded her first career double-double with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Brittnee Perry (Buffalo/Hutch Tech) finished with 13 points and seven boards, and Kaleigh Cicero (Caledonia/Perry) netted 11 points and had four steals off the bench.
Jaclyn Watkins (Aliquippa, PA/Aliquippa) led Thiel with 19 points and eight rebounds. Taylor Ketler (Dalton, OH/Dalton) chipped in 18 points, and Brijae Journee (Cleveland, OH/Villa-Angela St. Joseph) scored 12.
Buffalo State owned the glass, outrebounding the Tomcats 52-37 and had 54 points in the paint, compared to 40 by Thiel. The Bengal also converted 30 Tomcat turnovers into 38 points.
In the opening game, Hamilton and OWU combined to commit 30 turnovers in a sloppy first half that saw the Continentals take a 25-24 lead into the intermission. The lead changed for the 12th time and final time midway through the second half and OWU pulled away for its largest lead of the game as time expired.
Sarah McQuade (Dublin, OH/Coffman) led OWU with 17 points and added seven rebounds and five assists. Taylor Dickson (Baltimore, OH/Liberty Union) netted 15 points off the bench, and LaNiece McRae (Youngstown, OH/Chaney) added 10 points and 10 boards.
Sam Graber (Roseland, NJ/Gill St. Bernard's) paced Hamilton with 14 points, six rebounds and five steals. Samantha Srinivasan (Mt. Kisco, NY/Horace Greeley) and Caroline Barrett (Old Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) chipped in 10 points each.
OWU held a 46-36 rebounding advantage, but finished with 27 turnovers, compared to 23 by Hamilton. Both teams finished an identical 21 of 59 from the field, but OWU outscored Hamilton 12-6 at the charity stripe.
Buffalo State and Ohio Wesleyan will square off in tomorrow's title game at 2 p.m. Hamilton will face Thiel in the consolation game at noon.