OSWEGO, N.Y. – The Oswego State women's basketball team dominated Buffalo State to the tune of a 65-48 victory on Saturday afternoon in Max Ziel Gymnasium. It is the Lakers' first conference win of the year, moving to 1-3 in the SUNYAC and 2-7 overall. The Bengals are now 4-6 on the year and 1-3 in league action.
Head coach Tracy Bruno earned her 100th victory in her career on Saturday, all oif whice have come at Oswego State in her 10-year span at the helm of the Laker program.
Mary Mazzella knocked down a layup to open the game and Oswego never trailed from that point forward. After trading baskets for most of the first quarter, Oswego went on an 8-0 run over 3:16 to go up by nine and its lead would never dip lower than four the rest of the way. That run started with a Heather Hebert layup as the buzzer sounded at the end of the first to put the home team ahead by three. Rachael Windhausen took care of the rest of the span, sinking four-straight free-throws followed by a layup and was the only player from either team to score in the first 2:24 of the second quarter.
Later in the game, the Lakers grew its lead to as many as 22 at 65-43. Defense was important for Oswego, as it forced 19 Bengal turnovers, 13 of those coming by way of a steal. Oswego turned those turnovers into 18 points, 13 more than what Buffalo State was able to manage. The stingy defense also held the Bengals to less than 30.0% from the field and below 20.0% from beyond the arc.
Three Lakers finished in double-figures, led by Hebert's 19 points. Windhausen was just one-point back of her classmate and the two combined to go a perfect 14-for-14 from the charity stripe. In fact, Oswego only missed two free-throws the whole game, as Mazzella was also a perfect 2-for-2 on freebies. The other double-figure scorer was Courtney Ameele, turning in a 14-point performance.
On the glass, Hebert collected eight boards while WIndhausen added seven and Alison Nunziato and Ameele each had five. Mazella paced the team with five assisted while Hevert and Nunziato split six assists evenly. Mazella also had a team-best four steals while Ameele and Windhausen swatted two Bengal shots apiece.
The Lakers will now rest until the New Year, when they open 2017 with a 6 p.m. matchup with Nazareth College at home on Monday, Jan. 2.