The SUNY Oneonta women's basketball team took another step to securing on of the six SUNYAC playoff spots today with its 59-43 win at home against Buffalo State.  Oneonta (12-11) captured its ninth conference win to move into the top six in the standings with two conference games remaining next week.  The Red Dragons have won eight of its last 10 games overall.

Oneonta had three players in double figures led by junior Grace Schilling's (Northport/Northport) 16 points.  Freshman Lyteshia Price (Liverpool/Liverpool) had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds.  Junior Kristin Pappalardo (Mahopac/Lakeland) came off the bench to score 13 points before fouling out with 59 seconds left.

Schilling converted a steal into a lay-up to give Oneonta a 41-31 lead at the 14:20 mark of the second half.  Buffalo closed the gap to five points on a lay-in by Alicia Bowman with 7:13 remaining.

The Red Dragons seized control of the game at that point with a 9-1 spurt capped by a three-pointer and a pair of free throws by Pappalardo.  Oneonta continued to increase its lead to 17 points at 57-40 with 1:14 to go.

The Bengals had no players in double figures today, but had two players reach double figures in rebounds.  Bianca Smiley finished with 13 rebounds including eight off the offensive glass.  Bowman finished with nine points and 10 boards.

Oneonta led for the entire first half, building a lead of 14 points on a lay-up by Schilling to give the Red Dragons a 27-13 lead.  Schilling had five points and four steals in the opening 20 minutes.

Buffalo State began to assert itself on the offensive glass and chipped away at Oneonta's lead.  The Bengals ran off 11 unanswered to close the gap to 27-24 with 1:52 remaining in the half.  Smiley, who had eight of Buffalo's 33 rebounds in the first half, completed an old fashioned three-point play.

When the first half buzzer sounded, Oneonta held a 28-26 lead.

Oneonta will be at Oswego for a SUNYAC contest beginning at 6pm.

Newspaper Box Score
SUNY ONEONTA 59, BUFFALO STATE 43

BUFFALO STATE (11-11/7-8SUNYAC)
BOWMAN, Alicia 4-8 1-3 9; KELL, Kelly 4-6 0-0 8; SMILEY, Bianca 2-9 4-5 8; WALLACE, Ashley 2-10 3-7 7; NORRIS, Mariah 1-7 3-4 5; KOLLAR, Hillary 1-6 0-0 2; LUCIANI, Olivia 1-5 0-0 2; JACKSON, Shay 0-2 2-2 2; YASTREMSKI, Jordan 0-0 0-0 0; CRAWFORD, Kala 0-3 0-2 0; REINHOLZ, Kylie 0-3 0-1 0; CAIN, Mary 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-60 13-24 43.

SUNY ONEONTA (12-11/9-7SUNAYC)
SCHILLING, Grace 5-10 6-9 16; PRICE, Lyteshia 5-13 3-5 14; PAPPALARDO, Kristin 4-12 2-2 13; LONGTO, Sarah 1-4 4-7 6; LOOMIS, Bryn 2-5 0-1 4; CRAWFORD, Alyshia 2-10 0-0 4; CARISEO, Caitlin 1-2 0-0 2; MULLIGAN, Kelly 0-2 0-0 0; BRODHEAD, Shamari 0-0 0-0 0; NELSON, Rebecca 0-0 0-0 0; POLAN, Kristen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-58 15-24 59.

3-point goals--Buffalo State 0-10 (; NORRIS, Mariah 0-1; KOLLAR, Hillary 0-4; LUCIANI, Olivia 0-4; CRAWFORD, Kala 0-1), SUNY Oneonta 4-16 (PAPPALARDO, Kristin 3-8; PRICE, Lyteshia 1-3; CRAWFORD, Alyshia 0-4; MULLIGAN, Kelly 0-1).
Fouled out--Buffalo State-WALLACE, Ashley; SMILEY, Bianca, SUNY Oneonta-PAPPALARDO, Kristin.
Rebounds--Buffalo State 57 (SMILEY, Bianca 13), SUNY Oneonta 37 (PRICE, Lyteshia 10).
Assists—Buffalo State 4 (JACKSON, Shay 1; WALLACE, Ashley 1; SMILEY, Bianca 1; KELL, Kelly 1), SUNY Oneonta 9 (SCHILLING, Grace 3).
Total fouls--Buffalo State 20, SUNY Oneonta 16.
Technical fouls--Buffalo State-None, SUNY Oneonta-None.
A-208