Women's Basketball 12/6/2009 1:00:00 AM Canisius College Athletics

Defense and 3-Pointers Leads Women's Basketball to Win at Buffalo

AMHERST, N.Y. – The Canisius College women's basketball team used a drawn charge from senior Brianna Lucas and five points in the final minute, including a game-winning 3-pointer, from junior Micayla Drysdale to defeat the University at Buffalo 59-56 in Alumni Arena on Saturday. The Griffs won their fifth straight game to improve to 5-2 on the season for their second-best start in the last 15 seasons.

Senior Brittané Russell had 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists and six turnovers in 38 minutes while senior Ellie Radke had 14 points, including four of the 13 Golden Griffin 3-pointers on the day. Drysdale, Lucas and senior Tasia Lee each scored eight points for the Griffs.

“Any time you can win a crosstown rivalry game, it's a little extra special,” Canisius coach Terry Zeh said. “We struggled a little bit early to get into our flow, but we dug it out and our upperclassmen stepped up down the stretch to give us a great win.”

Buffalo led 56-54 after two free throws from Kourtney Brown with 1:52 remaining. After Radke missed a 3-pointer, Lucas drew a charge on a drive to the basket from Jessica Fortman to give Canisius the ball with 72 seconds left.

The Griffs came down, and Russell found Drysdale on the right wing. The junior swished a 3-pointer to give Canisius a 57-56 lead with 48 seconds left. After a missed jumper from Brittany Hedderson, Drysdale made two free throws – the only two free-throw attempts of the game for Canisius – with 27.1 seconds remaining to put Canisius up 59-56.

Out of a timeout, Buffalo (1-6) worked the ball around the perimeter and eventually found Nicki Hopkins open on the right wing. Hopkins, who had made five 3-pointers in the game, missed the potential game-tying shot from a few feet behind the arc to let the Griffs escape with the victory.

Brown had a double-double with 17 points and 15 rebounds while Hopkins had 15 points on her five 3-pointers. Buffalo.

The first half started out with a number of runs as Buffalo scored the opening five points before Canisius responded with a 10-0 run of its own. Radke had five points during the run while Lucas and Lee also made jumpers for the Griffs. The Bulls responded by scoring 15 straight points to go up 20-10 on a 3-pointer from Abby Dowd. Canisius chipped away at the Buffalo lead, getting back-to-back 3-ponters from Drysdale and Russell to go into the locker room down 28-24.

The teams played a back-and-forth second half that featured 15 lead changes and no team leading by more than three points after Russell scored on the first offensive possession of the second half for the Griffs. Canisius made seven 3-pointers in the second half – getting two from Radke and Russell and one each from Lucas, Drysdale and Lee.

Canisius returns to the court on Wednesday, December 16, when the Golden Griffins play at Duquesne. Game time, in the doubleheader with the Canisius men's team in Pittsburgh, is set for 5 p.m.

Notes: Canisius extended its NCAA record of consecutive games with a 3-pointer to 461 games on a 3-pointer by Radke early through the first half... Canisius and Buffalo met for the 33rd time… Canisius has won the last seven meetings in the series and Zeh improves to 6-0 all-time against Buffalo… Canisius has now won 14 of its last 18 road games… Lucas appeared in her 100th career game and made her 11th career start, with the last start coming on Dec. 9, 2007, at Loyola… Lucas had eight points in a season-high 27 minutes, coming into the game with 11 points in five previous games… Radke now has 10 made 3-pointers on the season, after making 10 last season… Russell had at least five rebounds, five assists and five steals in a game for the fourth time in a career… Canisius won for the second time this season when trailing at the half… Canisius improves to 28-18 in games decided by five points or fewer under Zeh… Canisius has a winning streak of five games or longer for the seventh time under Zeh.

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