The Oswego State women's basketball team put up a valiant fight until the final whistle but its comeback fell just short, 81-75, to the host Bengals of Buffalo State. After splitting the SUNYAC weekend with Fredonia and Buffalo State, the Lakers are now 6-14 on the year and 4-9 in league action. The Bengals improve to 11-10, 8-6 with Saturday's victory.
Courtney Ameele led the Lakers in scoring and set a new career-high for the second-straight night, recording 20 points on the afternoon. The freshman shot 50.0% (6-for-12) from the field, including 3-for-6 from distance, while going a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.
Ameele was aided by classmate Rachael Windhausen, who was also 6-for-12 from the field, tallying 16 points. She also helped pace Oswego on the glass, gathering 10 rebounds for the fourth double-double of her career.
Junior Heather Hebert matched Windhausen in the rebounding column, taking 10 off of Bengal misses. Guard Mary Mazzella also equaled Windhausen, but her similarity was in the points department. The sophomore scored 16 points to go along with her team-high four assists.
Facing a 15 point deficit at halftime, which grew to as many as 19 in the second half, did not discourage the Lakers, who showed great fight down the stretch. In a span of 10:01, Oswego outscored Buffalo State 29-11, knotting the game at 60-60 on an Ameele 3-pointer with exactly six minutes to play.
That was the closest the Lakers would come as they were unable to overtake the lead, battling back-and-forth over the final minutes, eventually falling by six.
Oswego will be back on the hardwood at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday when it hosts the Hawks of New Paltz in Max Ziel Gymnasium.
