PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. – The Plattsburgh State women's basketball team was within a possession of Buffalo State for the final 17 seconds of regulation, but the Cardinals were unable to force the game into overtime, falling by a 65-62 final to the Bengals in State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) action on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Hall.
 
After Buffalo State's senior guard Katie Villarini made a pair of free throws to go up, 61-57, with 23 seconds left, the Cardinals called a 30-second timeout to advance the ball. Senior guard Kayla Doody (Troy, N.Y./Tamarac) then drained a 3-pointer to make it a two-point game before quickly fouling Villarini. Villarini missed the front end and made the second, with the miss keeping the Cardinals within a possession.
 
Coming out of a full timeout, Doody drove the lane and scored a layup with seven seconds to go to pull Plattsburgh State within two, and after fouling Buffalo State's sophomore guard/forward Tashawni Cornfield, Cornfield went 1-of-2 at the line, with first-year guard Hope Sullivan (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) grabbing the defensive board. A Cardinal turnover ultimately gave the ball back to the Bengals, and Villarini went 1-of-2 at the line with a second left to put the game on ice.
 
Plattsburgh State falls to 5-10 overall (2-6 SUNYAC) with the loss and next hosts Fredonia tomorrow afternoon at 12 p.m. Buffalo State rises to 8-6 overall (5-3 SUNYAC) with the win and next visits SUNY Potsdam tomorrow at 12 p.m.
 
The Cardinals started out fast out of the gates, scoring the first seven points. Sullivan made a free throw and Doody drained a 3-pointer before Sullivan added a trey 1:36 into the first quarter to hand Plattsburgh State a 7-0 advantage. The two teams traded baskets until Buffalo State scored six unanswered points to pull within one at 9-8. The margin seesawed back and forth the remainder of the first quarter, and Plattsburgh State held a 17-16 lead through 10 minutes of play.
 
Buffalo State wound up outscoring Plattsburgh State, 13-3, in the second quarter. Neither team scored for the first 4:11 of the second until a 3-pointer by first-year guard Zavia Jaime gave Buffalo State a 19-17 advantage. After senior forward Kelly Degnan (Irvington, N.Y./Irvington) converted from deep to help the Cardinals regain the lead, the Bengals scored the final 10 points of the half to hand the visitors a 29-20 cushion heading into the locker rooms.
 
Plattsburgh State began chipping away at the lead in the early stages of the third quarter, with first-year forward Payton Couture (Redford, N.Y./Saranac) completing an old-fashioned 3-point play before junior guard Mya Smith (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) drained a triple to cut the gap to 29-26. While the Bengals led by as many as 11 points in the quarter, a 7-0 Cardinal surge that was capped off by a Sullivan layup with 20 seconds to go in the third whittled the deficit to four. Villarini beat the buzzer with a made jumper to give Buffalo State a 47-41 edge through three quarters of play.
 
The Cardinals started out the fourth quarter on an 11-5 run, and a made jumper by Sullivan tied the game at 52-all midway through the frame. While junior forward Hannah Ruberto (Holtsville, N.Y./Sachem East) would tie the game again at 54-all just more than a minute later, the Cardinals never recaptured the lead despite staying within striking distance the rest of the way.
 
Plattsburgh State shot 39.1 percent (25-of-64) from the floor and 33.3 percent (8-of-24) from 3-point range, while Buffalo State was 35.4 percent (23-of-65) from the field. The Bengals went to the line 24 times and made 16 of their free-throw attempts for a 66.7 percent clip, and they held a 48-37 margin in rebounds.
 
Sullivan led the Cardinals with a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Doody and Smith added 12 and 10 points, respectively. Couture grabbed 10 rebounds, while Doody doled out five assists.
 
For Buffalo State, Villarini buried 23 points, eight of which came from the line, and completed the double-double with 10 rebounds. She also handed out six assists and had three steals.