Furious Late Rally Propels Bobcats to Betty Abgott Invitational Title

BUFFALO, NY - A furious fourth quarter rally and a floater with 1.9 seconds left by Janae Brannon propelled the Bryant & Stratton Buffalo Bobcats to a 80-78 victory over the Villa Maria Vikings and the Betty Abgott Invitational Crown on Saturday afternoon. Brannon was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after averaging 8.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals during the weekend.

THE FAST BREAK

• BSC Buffalo opened the game with the first points of the game on a layup from sophomore Danyea Barclay.
• In the late stages of the first quarter, Villa Maria opened up a 17-6 lead after a 12-0 run.  Junior Shamecca Minor ended the run and hit a three to cut the deficit to eight at the end of the quarter.
• BSC Buffalo scored the first six points of the second quarter on layups from Alissa Johnson, Brannon and Tealaya Huff.
• with 7:41 left in the half, Minor hit back-to-back threes to give the Bobcats their first lead since the 4:03 mark of the first quarter at 21-19.
• Minor hit four of her game-high six threes in the second quarter and gave the Bobcats their largest lead of the game, seven, 38-31 at halftime.
• Villa regained the lead, 41-40 with 6:53 left in the third quarter.
• The two teams traded buckets for the rest of the quarter before the Bobcats took a 58-56 lead into the fourth quarter.
• Villa opened the fourth quarter on a 5-0 run to take a three-point lead.
• After Minor halted the run, Villa responded with 10-straight points to take its largest least of the game, 71-60 with 5:41 left.
• Johnson then hit a three to stop the run and cut the deficit to eight. Villa responded with buckets on its next two posessions and led by 10, 75-65 with 4:16 left.
• Huff then drove down the lane and finished through contact and completed the three-point-play to cut the deficit to seven.
• Moments later, Huff scored again to make the score 75-70 with 3:08 left.  Johnson then forced a turnover, came up with the steal and finished on the break to make it a one possession game.
• BSC Buffalo then hit three straight free throws to tie the game at 75 with 1:56 left.
• Villa then got a big three from TaLia Burgess 1:29 left to break the tie and give them a three-point lead.
• After a missed shot by the Bobcats, the were able to force a miss on the other end and secure the rebound with 44 seconds left.  Minor then hit her biggest three of the game when she used a high ball screen to get free and hit a straight-away 24-foot three to tie the game at 78 with 36 seconds left.
• The Bobcats then got another defensive stop and secured the rebound before Brannon took the game into her own hands and hit a tough 13-foot floater to win the game.

BOBCAT BUCKETS

• Brannon was named the tournament MVP after averaging 8.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals for the weekend.
• Over the final four minutes, the Bobcats held the Vikings to 1-of-6 shooting and forced three turnovers.
• Minor finished with a game-high 22 points and hit eight threes over the two days.
• Johnson scored 20 points and averaged 17 during the tournament.
• Huff added 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists off the bench in 25 minutes.
• Both teams shot an identical mark from the free throw line (10-17).
• The game featured eight ties and 22 lead changes.

WHAT THEY SAID

"Villa kept fighting back and we got down so we needed to make some adjustments," BSC Buffalo Head Coach Brittnee Perry said.  "Janae was big for us and hit a tremendous shot.  This was a great experience for our girls to win a tournament like this.  This brings back so many memories of when I got to play in this tournament and now we can say Bryant & Stratton Buffalo will be able to put our name on that tournament banner."

UP NEXT

BSC Buffalo will once again take on the Vikings of Villa Maria this Tuesday at the Villa Athletic Center.  Tip is set for 4:30 p.m.  It is the team's final game in the month of November

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