Anna Chiacchia
Facing a win-and-in scenario for the SUNYAC playoffs, the Fredonia women's basketball team was taken to overtime by SUNY Buffalo State and fell 76-71. Despite the loss, the Devils claimed the sixth seed in the SUNYAC Tournament.
Fredonia had a chance to win it late, but a pair of missed free throws with the game tied at 64 with seven seconds left in the fourth quarter allowed the Bengals to stick around. They went on to outscore Fredonia 12-7 in the overtime.
Buffalo State started the game on a 10-0 run, and would go up 19-12 after the first quarter. Fredonia worked back to a one-point lead at the half, 32-31.
The Devils' biggest lead of seven points came at the 6:32 mark of the third, 40-33.
The fourth quarter saw five ties and a pair of lead changes.
Four Devils would finish in double figures in scoring, led by Katie Pitcher (Fulton/Hannibal) and Jenna Einink (Westfield/Chautauqua Lake) with 15 apiece. Einink added a double-double with 16 rebounds. Anna Chiacchia (Hamburg/Hamburg) added 14 points, while Sarah Sweazy (Rochester, N.Y./Rush Henrietta) had 12. Pitcher grabbed nine rebounds and Chiacchia had three blocks.
Katie Villiarini led SUNY Buffalo State with 27 points. Princella McCullough had 19 points and Liv LeBarron added 17. The Bengals fell short of the SUNYAC Tournament this season at 13-12 overall and 7-11 in the SUNYAC.
The Devils (11-14 / 8-10) will travel to Oneonta on Tuesday in the first round of the tournament to take on the No. 3 seed Red Dragons.
