BUFFALO, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam women's basketball (5-7, 4-4 SUNYAC) rolled to 71-52 road victory on Saturday afternoon at Buffalo State (1-15, 0-9). Senior forward
Jakia Howard (Syracuse, N.Y./Nottingham) scored a game-high 21 points and picked up nine rebounds and three steals. Senior guard
Dyamon Hunter (Bronx, N.Y./Thurgood Marshall Academy) scored 20 points and totaled five assists. The performance moved her past Hall of Famer Karen Burns Dandrow '90 into second place on the program's scoring list with 1,102 points.
Potsdam got off to a fast start and the Bengals played catch up for much of the game. A layup from senior forward
Mandy Barnell (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) gave the Bears an 11-5 lead at 7:14. After Buffalo State closed to within 11-9, Potsdam ended the quarter on a 12-5 run. Junior guard
Bella Barner (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) hit back-to-back threes with 2:30 left. Sophomore
Xy'El Bradford (Syracuse, N.Y./Syracuse Academy of Science) had five points, while Barnell and Howard had four each as the Bears led 23-14 after 10 minutes.
The Bengals surged back in the second quarter. A 15-2 run over the first 5:35 gave Buffalo State a brief 29-25 lead. A third Barner three got the Bears headed back in the right direction and Potsdam finished the half on a 10-4 run. Sophomore guard
Mikayla Shipley (North Chili, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) scored with 39 seconds left to a break a tie and send the Bears into the locker room up 35-33.
It was all Potsdam in the third quarter as the Bears outscored their hosts 22-10. A 15-0 run to open the period, 10 of which were scored by Howard, kept the Bengals on the defensive. The run made it 50-33 at 5:35. Buffalo State scored 10 of the quarter's last 17 points, but found themselves trailing 57-43 after 30 minutes. Howard finished with 12 points in the quarter and Hunter chipped in four more.
The final quarter was more even, but the Bengals lost more ground. Hunter scored eight more points in the last 10 minutes and Howard added five more. A 14-9 quarter closed out the 71-52 victory.
Barner had nine points and Barnell scored seven.
Tawshawni Cornfield led the Bengals with 19 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
The Bears head down Route 11 to take on SUNY Canton on Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
