Watson scores 23 to help Buffalo beat Troy 88-84 in WNIT title game, set program record for wins
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Chellia Watson scored 23 points with seven rebounds and six assists to help Buffalo beat Troy 88-84 at Alumni Arena on Saturday to win the WNIT championship and set a program record for single-season wins.
Buffalo (30-7) won five games in a row — a program record in postseason play — after a loss to Toledo in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament to claim its first WNIT crown.
Kirsten Lewis-Williams finished with 18 points, Terah Harness scored 17, including four 3-pointers, and Lani Cornfield added 15 points and 11 assists for the Bulls. Jordyn Beaty added 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting.
Lewis-Williams was fouled as she hit a spinning layup and hit the and-1 free throw to make it 80-all with 3:26 to play. Brianna Jackson made 1 of 2 from the free-throw line to put Troy back in front 14 seconds later. Lewis-Williams had a layup attempt blocked by Zay Dyer but grabbed her own rebound and kicked it out to Harness for a 3-pointer and an 83-81 lead with 2:57 remaining. The Bulls last lead was 6-4.
Beaty stole the ball and raced to the other end for a layup and a four-point lead with 1:45 left before Emani Jenkins hit three free throws to cut Troy's deficit to 86-84 with 18 seconds remaining. After Beaty made 1 of 2 foul shots, Lewis-Williams stole the ball and her free throw with five seconds left capped the scoring.
Dyer had 15 points and 17 rebounds, her 18th double-double of the season, to lead Troy (24-14). The Trojans appeared in the program's first postseason championship game.
A record 5,650 fans were in attendance, Buffalo's first sellout in program history.
Cornfield threw an arcing no-look pass over her head to Harness for a corner 3-pointer that made it 64-all nearly a minute into the fourth quarter. Jackson answered with a three-point play and Fortuna Ngnawo added a jumper before Ashley Baez and Dyer made back-to-back layups to make it 73-67 with 6:43 to play.
Buffalo took a 6-0 lead when Cornfield found Beaty for a wide-open layup but Troy responded with a 14-4 run. Shaulana Wagner's jumper capped the spurt and made it 14-10 with 3:13 left in the first quarter and the Trojans took a 44-34 lead into halftime.
Both teams were members of the Mid-Continent Conference from 1993-97.
Buffalo went 18-2 at home this season, including an 80-78 win over the Trojans in the season opener on Nov. 4.
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