Despite an aggressive showing from Adiya Jones, the Bengals (4-19, 1-15 SUNYAC) were not able to find their rhythm and lost their eighth game in a row.
Jones led the home team with a double-double as she managed 13 points and dominated under the glass, grabbing 14 rebounds (10 defensive). Grace Carey and Emma Cohen each added 11 points while Josie Fleming, Maddy Stearns and Emily Goodstal scored two points.
As a whole, it was ugly for the Bengals, who were 16-of-56 from the field, 1-of-9 from three and 8-of-17 from the free throw line. Stearns was attempting good shots but could not find the bucket as she was 1-of-11 on the day.
“Confidence comes with winning, confidence comes with the work, you know,” said head coach Blair Estarfaa post-game. “We got to keep putting in the work and the confidence will come over the years.”
Coach Estarfaa is in his first year as the women’s head coach.
Cohen started things with a jumper and Carey netted a layup to go ahead 4-0 before Potsdam (8-14, 4-12 SUNYAC) went on a 15-0 run to lead by 11 with 5:08 to play in the first quarter.
Jones and Carey found the basket while Fleming netted a pair from the charity stripe to trail 19-10. Jones scored back-to-back points in the paint to close out the quarter 21-14, Bears advantage.
It was a much better first quarter than their previous game against Plattsburgh, in which the Bengals only managed 16 points in the entire first half.
Carey made a layup to start the second quarter and two minutes later Jones did the same to spark a 10-2 run, capped by a jumper from Cohen to tie the game at 27-apiece. The Bengals trailed 31-27 at the half.
The third quarter started off with a layup from Cohen but then Buffalo State’s offense was silent for nearly four minutes until Goodstal found the hoop to trail 40-31 with four minutes left in the quarter.
The Bengals offense was quiet again for a little over three minutes until Carey pulled up with a jumper to close out the quarter down 42-33. Buffalo State managed a mere six points in the third quarter.
The Bears went on a 15-3 run to start the final quarter to pull away from the Bengals, who looked tired on the court in the second half. Cohen netted a triple and Potsdam scored three quick layups to close out the game, 63-41, in favor of the Bears.
The Bengals are on the road for their final two games of the season as they face SUNY Cortland on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and SUNY Oswego at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
“We haven’t won a game on the road yet. I mean, that’s a new goal,” said coach Estarfaa. “We gotta go attack… let’s go get one.”
