BUFFALO, N.Y.—The Villa Maria College women's basketball team battled a talented University of Maine Fort Kent on Saturday in their season and home opener. The Vikings defeated the Bengals in overtime by a score of 84-83. With the win, Villa moves to 1-0 on the season, while Fort Kent fall to 2-1 in the early parts of the 2019-2020 year. 
 
The Vikings got off to a strong start thanks to back-to-back layups by Dakaylah Winfield and a layup by Ta Lia Burgess to grab a 7-2 lead. After reclaiming the advantage, 11-10, at the 3:57 mark, held the lead through the end of the first quarter and half way through the second quarter. The Bengals were tough during the entirety of the matchup, consistently fighting back. After the first two quarters of play, the Vikings found themselves down by a score of 33-30. 
 
The Villa deficit grew to as much as seven points throughout the third quarter, but they never let it get beyond that point. Buckets by Norvonee Hall, Winfield and Bianca Brown continuously brought them to within a one point and heading into the fourth quarter, the score was even at 56-56. 
 
Key three pointers by Brown kept the team ahead in regulation, as they held seven point leads of their own at the 6:17 and the 3:24 mark. Unfortunately, a late layup by the Bengals tied the game up, but Villa held on defensively to push the first game of the year into overtime. The opposition grabbed the lead to start the extra time and they maintain it until the final minute of play. Burgess hit a game tying three pointer to make the score 81-81 with 1:22 on the clock. 
 
After 30 second of missed shots by both teams, Burgess hit the second of two free-throws to give the Vikings an 82-81 lead. With neither team having a time out, the game turned into a sprint with the Bengals converting a go-ahead layup with 11 seconds left. However, Burgess did not let her team down as she pushed the ball down the court and nailed a left-handed layup to secure the 84-83 victory. 
 
Hall was impressive, scoring 21 points on 8-for-13 shooting, while also grabbing 14 rebounds and handing out five assists. Winfield, Brown and Burgess all finished with 15 points each, with Winfield adding six rebounds, six assists and five steals to her stat line. 
 
The Vikings remain at home on Sunday, Nov. 10 when they host Penn State Beaver at 2 p.m. following the men's basketball game at 12 p.m.