BUFFALO, N.Y. -  The SUNY Poly women's basketball was defeated by Buffalo State on Friday afternoon 69-40. A strong second-half performance from the Bengals proved to be the difference. The Wildcats will be back in action today against Elmira College for Day 2 of the Buffalo State tournament. With the loss, the Wildcats move to 0-2 on the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED: In the first quarter, the Wildcats were led by a Kelsey Meca three-pointer and 8 points from Alivia Turk to keep the game tied at 13-13 with 1:30 left to play in the quarter. The Bengals would go on a 6-0 run in the last 1:30, however, to take a 19-13 lead heading into the second quarter.

The Bengals would continue their run to open the second quarter on a jump shot from Adiya Jones to extend the lead to 21-13. The Wildcats would go on a run shortly after, highlighted by a Hannah Shipley three-pointer with 4:39 left in the half to make it a 23-22 game. The Bengals would go on another run, however, taking a 37-24 lead into halftime.

The Bengals would have a hot start in the second half, winning the third quarter 21-6, and wouldn't look back from there. In the fourth quarter, the Wildcats would continue to play hard and have their closest quarter of the night, but it wasn't enough and the Bengals would hold on for a 69-40 victory.

NOTABLE STATISTICS:

• Alivia Turk would lead the Wildcats with 12 points.
• The Bengals would have three bench players score in double-digits. Tashawni Cornfield finished with a team-high 15 points, and Jadyn Jones and Chloe Hanson both finished with 10 points.

UP NEXT: The Wildcats will be back in action today against Elmira College. The game is scheduled to start at 2:00 PM.