BUFFALO, N.Y.— The College at Brockport women's basketball team used a fourth quarter comeback to earn a State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) win over Buffalo St. 59-54.
The victory moves the Green and Gold to a 5-9 record on the year and 3-5 in SUNYAC play and the loss drops the Bengals to 7-8 on the season and 4-5 in conference competition.
The Golden Eagles remained close for much of the first quarter against the Bengals, with both teams trading buckets until an 8-0 run gave Brockport a 16-8 deficit at the 2:12 mark. The team responded with a 6-0 run of their own thanks to free throws and a layup by
Emily Nestler along with a jumper by
Brianna Neeley. After the first quarter the Bengals were leading 16-14.
Lindsay Johnson started off the second quarter with a layup to quickly tie the game up at 16. The Green and Gold continued to play neck-and-neck with Buffalo St., even when it appeared they might run away with the game, Brockport stood firm and players like Johnson,
Julianna Taylor and
Bailey Pratt converted on important possessions. The score at half-time stood at 31-27.
The Bengals were held scoreless in the opening 2:42 of the second half and that allowed for a layup by Nestler to bring the Golden Eagles to within one, and then a three by sharpshooter
Schyler Laux gave her team their first lead of the game 32-31. Both teams continued to trade buckets until the Green and Gold found themselves down 43-35 with 3:31 left in the third quarter. Brockport buckled down and held the opposition scoreless for the remainder of the frame and four straight free-throw makes by Nestler cut the deficit to four points heading into the final ten minutes of play.
Nestler continued her hot free throw shooting by hitting two more at the eight-minute mark of the fourth and then hit another, two minutes latert after a Johnson layup, to cut the Bengals lead to 45-44. Pratt turned into the hero of the game after she hit a go-ahead three pointer to give the team a one-point lead.
Zaria McCullough iced the game with seven seconds left as she hit two free-throws to put Brockport up four points.
Nestler lead the way with 17 points and nin rebounds, while Johnson contributed 12 points and grabbed five rebounds of her own.
The Green and Gold head on the road on Tuesday, Jan. 16 when they take on non-conference foe Hamilton College for a 5:30 p.m. matchup.
Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Golden Eagle scores and awards by following @BportAthletics on Twitter and by liking the "Brockport Golden Eagles" Facebook page.
