BUFFALO, N.Y.—Fourth-seeded Buffalo State erased a seven-point halftime deficit and limited visiting No. 5 Oneonta to just 19 points in the second half to claim a 61-50 home victory this evening in the SUNYAC Quarterfinals.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE:  Buffalo State – 61, Oneonta - 50
LOCATION: Sports Arena – Buffalo, NY
RECORDS: Buffalo State (16-10), Oneonta (12-14)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Junior guard Katie Villarini (Hamburg/Hamburg) led the Bengals' surge with 18 points, including hitting 11 of 14 from the free throw line.
• Liv LeBaron (Corning/Corning East) added 14 points to go with 10 rebounds. 
• Lexi Emmi (Liverpool/Liverpool) chipped in nine points, Kendall Mills (Buffalo/Kenmore East) had six points and six boards, and Tori Hackett (Canandaigua/Canandaigua Acad.) scored five points and grabbed 10 rebounds.
• The first quarter stayed tight throughout with the Bengals leading 14-12 at the first break. 
• The Red Dragons used a 9-0 run to break a 20-20 tie and take their largest lead of the game in the second quarter and were still ahead 31-24 at halftime.
• Oneonta hit the only buck of the first almost four minutes of the second half to reclaim the nine-point lead before the Bengals began to chip away and eventually take a 39-38 lead late in the third quarter.
• Buffalo State found itself down by one entering the fourth quarter which saw five lead changes in the early going before Villarini hit a pair of free throws with 6:41 remaining to give the Bengals a lead they would never relinquish. 
• Villarini's free throws kicked off a 12-2 run that enabled the Bengals to pull away and Buffalo State never allowed the Red Dragons to threaten again.
• Buffalo State forced 18 Oneonta turnovers, while committing just 10, and converted those miscues into 21 points.
• The Bengals made the most of their offensive rebounds, outscoring Oneonta 23-10 on second-chance points.
• Oneonta shot 32 percent for the game and just 21 percent on 4 of 19 shooting in the second half. 
• The Bengals shot just 28 percent for the game, but hit 23 of 29 from the charity stripe, while the Red Dragons were 12 of 21.

FOR THE FOES

• Leanne Corso led Oneonta with 27 points and 12 rebounds and surpassed the 1,000 career point mark.
• Olivia Allrich added nine points in the loss.

UP NEXT

Buffalo State advances to visit top-seeded New Paltz in the SUNYAC semifinals on Friday at 7:30 p.m.