Box Score
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- The Bates women's basketball team led all but 6:28 of regulation time, but Buffalo State surged back to send the game into overtime, where the Bengals prevailed 69-67 in to send the Bobcats home with a 69-67 loss in their second and final game of the Daytona Beach Shootout.
Buffalo State (9-1) outscored Bates (5-4) 19-3 over the final five minutes of the second half, overcoming a 16-point Bates lead. A pair of free throws by Bianca Smiley gave Buffalo State its first lead since the 14:03 mark of the first half with 1:00 left in regulation, Bates senior Annie Burns (Topsfield, Mass.) hit the second of two free throws with 16 seconds left in regulation to tie the game back up. The game was sent into overtime when Smiley missed a layup attempt at the buzzer.
Smiley scored 28 points and grabbed 14 rebounds for the Bengals, who outrebounded the Bobcats 66-35, ultimately the main difference in the game. Hillary Kollar and Barb Kiliszek added 10 points apiece, with all of Kiliszek's points coming in the final five minutes of regulation.
Sophomore Meredith Kelly (Cohasset, Mass.) led the Bobcats with 18 points and grabbed five rebounds, earning all-tournament honors along with Buffalo State's Smiley. Junior Allie Beaulieu (Swampscott, Mass.) added 17 points and tied Burns for the team rebounding lead, with six. Burns handed out four assists and made a pair of steals.
First-year Allaina Murphy (Poland Spring, Maine) and junior Taryn O'Connell (Georgetown, Mass.) added eight points apiece for the Bobcats.
Beaulieu's 10 first-half points helped Bates stake out a 30-25 lead at intermission. Beaulieu then hit two more three-pointers during a 16-8 Bobcat run to open the second half. Murphy and Kelly both scored four points apiece in the outburst, which bumped Bates' lead to 46-33 with 13:16 left in the second half.
Buffalo State cut the deficit down to nine before a 6-0 Bates mini-run, featuring a three-point play and a jumper by O'Connell, put the Bobcats on top 57-42 with 8:17 left in regulation. A steal and a layup by Kelly made it 59-43 with 5:54 left.
Kiliszek hit a three, her first points of the game, with 5:00 showing on the clock to begin the Bengals' dramatic comeback. After another three by Kollar, Kiliszek converted a three-point play, then followed a Smiley jumper with a three-point play and a pair of layups, the last of which slashed Bates' lead to one, at 61-60, with 1:28 to go.
The Bobcats are off for the holidays and resume their schedule on Jan. 2 with a non-conference game at Colby, with tipoff slated for 7pm. The game can be followed online via video webcast.
Link to Stats and Play by Play
