LeBaron, Villarini lift Women’s Basketball to upset win over Cortland, 75-65

BUFFALO, N.Y.— Liv LeBaron (Corning/Corning East) notched her 20th career double-double with a game-high 34 points and 13 rebounds, while Katie Villarini (Hamburg/Hamburg) chipped in 24 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, as Buffalo State snapped Cortland's 14-game winning steak in a 75-65 upset victory in the Sports Arena.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State – 75, Cortland - 65

LOCATION: Sports Arena – Buffalo, N.Y.

RECORDS: Buffalo State (12-6/8-3), Cortland (16-2/10-1)

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • LeBaron, the SUNYAC's leading scorer, finished 12 of 20 from the floor, 3 of 5 from distance and 7 of 9 from the free throw line.
  • Villarini shot 50 percent from the field to go along with 5 of 7 from distance.
  • Tori Hackett (Canandaigua/Canandaigua) added six points, five rebounds and six assists, while Kaelee Lynch (Atwater, CA/Buhach Colony) tallied five points and six rebounds off of the bench.
  • Buffalo State sprinted out of the gates by claiming a 13-3 lead in the first four minutes of action.
  • Cortland rallied to trim the deficit to 26-17 but a jumper by Kendall Mills (Buffalo/Kenmore East) gave the Bengals a 28-17 lead at the first intermission.
  • Buffalo State maintained its double-digit lead for the majority of the second frame, until a late Red Dragon run cut the lead to 39-32 at halftime.
  • Cortland outscored the Bengals 16-13 in the third quarter to make it a 52-48 deficit at the final intermission.
  • Buffalo State scored the first four points of the fourth frame to push the lead back to 56-48 but failed to hold its momentum as the Red Dragons trimmed the lead back to 63-57 with 4:19 left in the contest.
  • The Bengals scored seven-unanswered points on the next three possession to take a 67-57 lead with 2:23 left.
  • Buffalo State finished 8 of 12 from the free-throw line in the final two minutes to complete the win.
  • The Bengals shot 47 percent from the field and 53 percent from distance, while outrebounding Cortland 43-35.
  • The Red Dragons finished with a 16-6 edge in points off of turnovers and a 22-20 advantage in points in the paint.

FOR THE FOES

  • Beth Bonin finished with a team-high 23 points, on 10 of 10 shooting from the charity stripe, to pace the Red Dragons.
  • Nyia Longford chipped in 13 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.

NOTEWORTHY

  • Buffalo State snapped Cortland 14-game winning streak that dated back to Nov. 19 and gave the Red Dragons their first conference loss since the SUNYAC Quarterfinals on Feb. 19, 2019.
  • The Bengals' 8-1 record in the Sports Arena is the programs' best home record since the 2013-14 season.

UP NEXT

Buffalo State will look to keep its winning streak alive as it hosts Geneseo in a SUNYAC contest on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.