Two comebacks helped the Falcons womens basketball win on the road against the Buffalo Bulls by a score of 64-62.
Leading the way for the Falcons were sophomores Sydney Lambert and Carly Santoro, with Lambert scoring 18 points and Santoro with 17. Senior Abby Siefker also stood out with a double-double on the day with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
“We had a lot of resiliency from everyone on our team, no matter if they were in the game or on the bench, and I’m really proud of our effort,” Falcons head coach Jennifer Roos said. “We outrebounded them by 10. I thought we did a good job of limiting our turnovers when they pressed for the majority of the game.”
It was a slow start offensively for the Falcons in the first as Buffalo got off to a 10-3 run at the 7:22 mark, and the Bulls spreaded the floor with ease that led to open looks from three-point range. Neither team would score in the next four minutes until Buffalo’s Stephanie Reid hit a fast break layup with three minutes left. Buffalo led 17-5 with 1:31 left in the quarter, but a pair of threes from Lambert and Santoro cut the deficit to six as the Bulls led 17-11 after the first.
In the second, the Falcons quickly tied the game following a pair of threes by Lambert with 8:37 left to go in the quarter. Every attempt Buffalo would make to go on a scoring run would result in Lambert and Santoro answering with a big shot to keep BG within striking distance. With two minutes left Lambert hit a pull-up jump shot to cut the deficit to just one as Buffalo led 27-26. It wasn’t very long until the Falcons took the lead following a pair of free throws from junior Haley Puk. The Bulls closed out the quarter with Buffalo’s JoAnna Smith hitting a pair of layups to give her team the lead at the half leading 32-28.
The backcourt duo of Lambert and Santoro made up 21 of the team’s 28 points. While the senior frontcourt of Siefker and Ashley Tunstall were held scoreless at the half.
In the third, Buffalo would extend the lead following a 7-3 run led by Smith. The Falcons couldn’t stop Smith’s hot shooting throughout the quarter, and it eventually led to Buffalo leading 47-33 with 3:57 remaining in the third. However, BG would cut the deficit to just eight following baskets from Santoro, Siefker, and Tunstall. BG would go into the final quarter with the momentum, despite Smith’s 12 points as Buffalo led 53-45.
In the final quarter, the Falcons would get off to an 8-2 scoring run with seven minutes left. A couple minutes later, Lambert would hit a three to give BG the lead 57-55 with 4:52 remaining in the game. The Falcons got the lead up to five with a 1:30 remaining to go.
Following a Haley Puk free throw, Smith knocked down a three from the top of the arc to put the pressure on the Falcons with 1:11 remaining. Santoro would hit three of her six free throw attempts in the final seconds that gave the Falcons a narrow 64-62 lead with eight seconds, with the final possession belonging to Buffalo. Buffalo’s Reid drove to the lane and missed, but Summer Hemphill got the hurried put back shot attempt, and it was no good since the buzzer sounded, giving BG the victory.
The team’s next game will be on Wednesday on the road to face the Ohio Bobcats with tipoff beginning at 7 p.m.
