PLATTSBURGH, N.Y.— Liv LeBaron (Corning/Corning East) posted her 21^st career double-double with 28 points and 15 rebounds, while Katie Villarini (Hamburg/Hamburg) chipped in 14 points and five rebounds, as Buffalo State closed the game on an 8-4 run to escape with a 59-58 victory over host Plattsburgh this afternoon, clinching its first SUNYAC playoff berth since the 2017-18 season.     

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: Buffalo State – 59, Plattsburgh – 58  

LOCATION: Memorial Hall – Plattsburgh, N.Y.

RECORDS: Buffalo State (14-7/10-4), Plattsburgh (6-15/3-11)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• LeBaron, the SUNYAC's leading scorer, scored over 20 points for the 15th time this season.
• Villarini finished 2 of 6 from behind the 3-point line to go along with a career-high four blocks, two assists and two steals.
• Lexi Emmi (Liverpool/Liverpool) chipped in eight points, three rebounds and three assists off of the bench.
• Buffalo State jumped out to an early 7-0 lead but failed to hold the momentum as Plattsburgh closed on a 14-3 run to claim a 14-10 lead at the first intermission.
• The Cardinals held a slim margin during most of the second frame, until the Bengals closed the half with back-to-back layup by Villarini and Aliyah Braxton (Bay Shore/Bay Shore) to take a 33-32 halftime lead.
• Buffalo State and Plattsburgh traded points throughout the third stanza with LeBaron's last second jumper giving the Bengals a 48-47 edge at the final intermission.
• After the Cardinals regained a 56-54 lead with 3:46 left to play in the contest, the Bengals converted an old-fashion three-point play on the next possession to retake a 57-56 lead.
• Buffalo State closed out its scoring LeBaron scored a fast-break layup off the block by Villarini to extend the lead to 59-56 with 2:57 remaining.
• A final desperation shot at the buzzer by Plattsburgh went begging as the Bengals escaped with the conference win.
• Buffalo State shot 34 percent from the floor, while holding a 44-38 advantage in rebounds.
• Plattsburgh shot 36 percent from the field and outscored the Bengals 29-12 in bench points.

FOR THE FOES

• Four players scored in double-figures for the Cardinals, led by Taylor Durnin who finished with 12 points and three rebounds.
• Kayla Doody and Hanna Whitney each tallied 11 points, while Misa Dowdell chipped in 10 points and five rebounds off of the bench.

NOTEWORTHY

• With her 28 points against Plattsburgh, Liv LeBaron is now only four points away from moving into fourth all-time in program history in scoring. LeBaron has tallied 1,352 points in 70 career games.  
• With the victory, Buffalo State remains in a tie for third place in the SUNYAC standing with Geneseo, who currently hold the tiebreaker with the win over the Bengals on Tuesday, with five more games left to play.

UP NEXT

Buffalo State will visit Geneseo in a SUNYAC showdown on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.