Brockport women’s basketball was at home for the final time this season and picked up a convincing 69-54 victory over Buffalo State. With the win Brockport finished the regular season with a record of 12-13 overall and 9-9 in conference play. The Golden Eagles also secured the fifth seed in the SUNYAC playoffs with the win. Head Coach Corinne Jones stressed the importance of ending the season on a high note.
“It’s really important and I think what we’ve done all season is win the games we’re supposed to win,” Jones said. “We feel pretty good after this weekend, we’re feeling confident. Hopefully we can go into this game Tuesday with the same rebounding effort and make some shots on the road.”
It was Senior Day for Brockport and lone senior Anna Felice was honored in a pregame ceremony. Felice was unable to play due to injury but still suited up and got the start before exiting shortly after tip off to hugs from her teammates and coaches.
Both teams would trade buckets in the first, but the Bengals seized control early in the second quarter. The lead would grow to as large as seven for Buffalo State before Hali Lucia would begin to take over the game offensively. Lucia would score nine of her 14-point first half points in the second quarter to help the Golden Eagles take a seven-point lead at the break. Jones thought Lucia bounced back well from a quiet night Friday.
“She can get in the paint whenever she wants,” Jones said. “I said to her yesterday ‘you’re getting in there you got to shoot it.’ I thought she did a really good job staying resilient and seeing her open looks tonight.”
The Bengals would respond with a run early in the third quarter to knot the game at 37 a piece. Shannon Blankenship and Anna Lee quickly countered with back-to-back triples, the only made three pointers of the game for Brockport. That would spark a 15-6 finish to the quarter for the Golden Eagles who entered the fourth leading by nine. From there they would cruise to the finish.
Juan Brown would lead all scorers in the game with 17 points for Brockport. Lucia added 14 points and five rebounds. Zairea Hannah finished with a near double-double scoring eight points while snagging 11 rebounds. Adiya Jones led the Bengals with 14 points.
Brockport will head on the road Tuesday night to take on the number four seed Geneseo Knights to open postseason play. Jones made the game plan for Tuesday’s contest seem simple for the Golden Eagles.
“They play a pack line sagging defense so really we just have to make some open shots,” Jones said. “They are going to give us open jump shots and we have to knock them down. It also needs to be neck and neck on the boards, we can’t lose that battle.”
The first round SUNYAC matchup against Geneseo will tip off at 7p.m.
