The Oswego State women's basketball defeated Buffalo State 68-55 on the road behind Rachael Windhausen's 22 points and 12 rebounds. With the win Oswego hands Buffalo State its first conference loss as the Bengals fall to 5-4 overall and 2-1 in the SUNYAC. The Lakers are now 3-6 overall and 1-2 in league play.
The Lakers controlled the action in the first quarter as they scored the game's first four points on a pair of Courtney Ameele layups. The team would not trail at any time during the first period, as they shot 58%, but only had a one point lead at 14-13. In the second, the teams went back and forth until the last two minutes of the quarter. With the score tied at 22-22, Buffalo State would hit two 3-pointers to go up by six at the half.
Oswego came out strong in the third quarter behind solid play from Windhausen. She put up 10 points for the Lakers in the frame and helped close the Buffalo State lead back to three at 42-39. The hot shooting continued into the fourth as both teams put up seven points within the first two minutes of the quarter. Ameele and Windhausen notched layups and freshman Raiven Encarnacion hit a three to keep the game close.
Oswego would get the lead back with a 10-0 run midway through the fourth to go up 56-49. A Buffalo State 3-pointer with 3:53 would close the gap back to four, but Ameele would answer with a trey of her own to put the game away. Oswego had 29 points in the fourth quarter and outscored Buffalo State by 16 points in the final stanza. The 29 points was their highest scoring quarter of the season.
Ameele achieved the other double-double for the Lakers with 18 points and 10 assists while Encarnacion and Quincy Zimmerman each added 11 points in the win. The senior's 10 assists is the most of her career and double her previous high of five, which she had in this season's opener and once as a junior. Zana Dillard tied Windhausen with a game-high 12 rebounds.
The team is back in action at 1 p.m. on Saturday when it travels to take on the Blue Devils of Fredonia in another important conference matchup.
