BUFFALO STATE—Senior captain Meghan Driscoll (Troy, N.Y./Troy) scored a career-high 26 points and had seven steals for the SUNY Potsdam women's basketball team (1-4, 0-1 SUNYAC), but Buffalo State (4-3, 1-1) held on for the 70-63 victory on Saturday afternoon. Fellow senior captain Patti Dorgler (Floral Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) registered 12 points and eight rebounds, while junior forward Emily Drake (Athens, N.Y./Coxsackie-Athens) narrowly missed her first career double-double with eight points and 10 boards.
 
The Bengals raced out to a 12-2 lead and doubled up Potsdam 14-7 in the opening quarter. Drake and sophomore guard Secret Clark (Bronx, N.Y./NYC Charter for A.E.C.I.) each had field goals for the Bears and Dorgler hit a 3-pointer.
 
Potsdam battled nearly evenly with Buffalo State in the second quarter thanks to Driscoll. Driscoll exploded for 11 of the Bears' 13 points with the other two coming from Drake. Buffalo State countered with 15 points of its own and took a 29-20 lead into the half.
 
Potsdam closed to within 50-45 after outscoring the Bengals 25-21 in the third quarter. Again, Driscoll led the charge with eight points, including two threes. Dorgler and sophomore guard Abbey Smith (Bainbridge, N.Y./Bainbridge-Guilford) each scored six and Drake added two. A 3-pointer from Drew Dufrane (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) got the Bears with in 47-45 at the 1:16 mark.
 
Buffalo State edged Potsdam 20-18 in the fourth quarter. The Bengals recorded 11 points coming from the charity stripe in a physical final 10 minutes and the Bears were 12-14 from the line. Driscoll added seven more points to her total in the fourth and sophomore forward Victoria Shopovick (White Plains, N.Y./Maria Regina) was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Driscoll drained two foul shots with 1:14 left to get Potsdam within 66-63, but the Bengals sank four of their final eight free throws to seal the win.
 
Smith finished with eight points and two steals for Potsdam. Taylor Graham and Shayasha Spencer each scored 11 points to lead Buffalo State. Princella McCullough notched a double-double with 10 points and 13 boards.
 
The Bengals shot 37.7% from the floor to the Bears' 31.8. Potsdam forced 28 Bengal turnovers, while only giving up the ball 19 times.
 
The Bears are back in action on Tuesday night when they host St. Lawrence University at 5:30 p.m.