BUFFALO, NY - It took an extra five minutes, but the Villa Maria Vikings pulled out a 73-68 victory over the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg on Saturday afternoon in the final game of the Betty Abgott Tournament.

The Vikings - who finished the tournament hosted by Buffalo State, with a record of 2-0 - got another tremendous performance from junior Shaquana Owens (Buffalo, NY/Tapestry Charter School).  She finished with 26 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists.  Villa shot just 33.8 percent for the game, but scored 11 of the final 13 points in the overtime period.

Villa led by three in the final moments of the fourth quarter, but Pitt tied the game on a triple with 1.7 seconds left to send the game in the overtime.  They then opened the period with two straight baskets and led by two with 1:39 left before Owens broke the tie for the last time, knocking down a triple to ultimately win the game.

Sophomore Bianca Brown (Niagara Falls, NY/Jamestown Community College) scored 17 for Villa, while senior Clarissa Walker (Rochester, NY/Genesee Community College) chipped in 11.

Villa improves to 5-1 and have won four straight, while Pitt Greensburg falls to 0-2.

BOX SCORE
Villa Maria Vikings (5-1, 1-1 NIAC)                31 - 31 - 11 -- 73
Pittsburgh at Greensburg (0-2)                      34 - 28 - 6   -- 68

INSIDE THE BOX
* Villa finished with 16 assists on 27 made baskets
* Villa shot 9-30 from three point range, while Pitt was 4-19
* Villa had 12 steals and forced 19 turnovers
* Pitt out-rebounded Villa 58-53
* Sophomore Nina Cray (Wheatland, IA/Calamus-Wheatland) finished with six points, seven rebounds and three blocks while also scoring the first points of the overtime period for Villa
* Pitt's Kelsey Oddis led all scorers with 32 points and 19 rebounds
* Both teams finished with 28 points in the paint
* Villa had the edge in second chance points, 23-15
* Villa had six blocks. Pitt had two

WHAT THEY SAID
HC Al Monaco "It wasn't pretty but it's a win.  We have a bit of a layoff here for the holiday so we will clean up some of our mistakes and 

UP NEXT
The Vikings will have an 11-day layoff before their next game, a road contest with another NCAA III opponent Houghton College on November 29th.

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