Lady Bengals drop season finale to Fredonia

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Buffalo State lost its season finale at home against Fredonia. It was the last game for the seniors in a Bengal uniform.

Zachary Memmott, Reporter

The Buffalo State women’s basketball was blown out to end the season Saturday with a 66-43 loss to Fredonia, leaving its record at 7-18 for the season.

After the first quarter Fredonia was up, 19-6, and Buffalo State was having difficulty. Turnovers were the reason. The Bengals had nine in the first quarter and went eight straight possessions without scoring in the opening quarter. Buffalo State got into early foul trouble, which sent Fredonia to the line multiple times.

In the second quarter, Buffalo State started to run a press defense and went on a 7-0 run and only turned the ball over once. It managed to snag a couple offensive rebounds for second-chance points and got high percentage shots down low. It forced four turnovers from Fredonia, though the Blue Devils led 35-20.

It didn’t take long for Fredonia to figure out the press. Fredonia broke it possession after possession with ball movement. The Blue Devils’ movement and ability to find the open player led to wide open shots and at one point, a four-point play by Alexis Cheatham. Even when Buffalo State didn’t press, Fredonia’s passing was on point. Fredonia scored 20 points in the third to open up the game, 55-34.

Fredonia capitalized off Buffalo State’s turnovers by scoring 17 points. The three-point shot was the difference with Fredonia shooting 42 percent behind the arc, while Buffalo State only shot 30 percent.

Fredonia’s leading scorer, Cheatham, hit five 3-pointer.

Fredonia went to the free-throw line often in the game. The Blue Devils had 17 shots and converted on 10 of them. Buffalo State only went 1-6 from the line.

Buffalo State’s bench helped with scoring by contributing 14 points. Another positive is that senior Shyasha Spencer had 10 points in her final game as a Bengal, although it came in a loss.

Buffalo State played its last regular season game and will not be making the playoffs.