CORTLAND, N.Y. – Cortland used a 20-3 spurt in the first half to take control in a 74-47 victory over SUNYAC rival Buffalo State. With the win, the Red Dragons have won seven straight games and are now 12-3 overall and 7-1 in the conference. The Bengals fall to 7-8 overall and 2-6 in league play.

Senior Jessica Laing (Bloomville/South Kortright) scored a game-high 24 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Senior Miranda Lustig (Medford/Patchogue-Medford) posted career highs with 16 points and six assists and also finished with six rebounds. She established a career high in scoring for the second straight game.

Junior Jennifer Patten (Bainbridge/Bainbridge-Guilford) scored a season-high 13 points and hauled in six rebounds. Sophomore Micki Volpini (Newfield) scored seven points, sophomore Allyson Biordi (Beacon) led the team with nine rebounds and sophomore Mary Bruns (Brooklyn/Bishop Ford) scored six points and blocked three shots.

Staci McElroy (Saratoga Springs) led the Bengals with 13 points and nine boards. Kristin Ritch (Dobbs Ferry) totaled six points, four rebounds and three assists.

Ritch hit a three-pointer with 7:59 left in the first half to keep the Bengals within five at 17-12. Following a timeout, however, Cortland scored the next eight points, six on a pair of Jen Polan (Westhampton/Westhampton Beach) three-pointers, and led 25-12 with 6:23 left. Following a Buffalo State basket, Cortland scored 12 of the next 13 points – six by Laing – and led 37-15 with 2:27 left.

Cortland led 41-21 heading into the locker room and held a double-digit advantage throughout the second half. The Bengals used a 9-2 run midway through the half to cut the Cortland lead to 60-45 with seven minutes left, but the Red Dragons quickly responded with nine straight points, four by Lustig, to seal the win.

Lustig made her first 10 free throws, extending her streak to 20 straight made foul shots, before missing two attempts with 9:12 left. She finished the game 12-of-14 from the line and the Red Dragons made 28-of-36 foul shots (78 percent) as a team.

Cortland will host Oneonta (currently 8-0 in the SUNYAC) in a battle for first place in the league on Tuesday, Jan. 26, at 6 p.m.

(Jason Silver contributed to this story)

Box Score/Play-by-Play