CLEVELAND, Ohio — Last year, Buffalo found itself down two heading into the fourth quarter of their MAC Tournament quarterfinal matchup versus Bowling Green, but were able to find a way to claim victory, 70-64. In Wednesday’s quarterfinal rematch at Rocket Arena, the Bulls again found themselves down heading into the fourth quarter … but this time the deficit was 12, not two. However, thanks to late-game heroics by fifth-year seniors Chellia Watson and Noelani Cornfield, No. 3 Buffalo was able to stun No. 6 Bowling Green and squeak out a 65-63 victory. Buffalo (25-6) advances to play No. 2 Toledo, which defeated Central Michigan 76-58, in the semifinals on Friday. With 19 seconds to play, Watson, an all-MAC first-teamer, had the game and the season in her hands. Driving quickly down the court, she scored a layup with 10 seconds left, giving the Bulls the lead. On the Falcons’ last possession, hoping for a last-second miracle, an inbounds pass for a wide-open layup attempt was broken up by Cornfield and stolen by sophomore Kirsten Lewis-Williams, icing the victory for the Bulls. “After the timeout, coach drew up a play,” Watson said about her game-winning shot. “I got the ball, I honestly didn’t see nobody in front of me. I just kept going, and I knew she couldn’t stop me, so I just took over.” Of Cornfield’s steal, Buffalo coach Becky Burke said: “She’s one of the most special athletes I’ve ever coached. Her ability to cover ground and fly around the way that she does … there’s a reason she was all-defensive team.” The fourth quarter was not only huge for Watson, who scored 13 of her 27 points in the quarter, but it was massive for the team as a whole. Bowling Green had 13 offensive rebounds in the first three quarters, but Buffalo allowed not a single one in the fourth. The Bulls also forced four turnovers while only committing one. Quite simply, they dominated. “I just can’t say enough about the resilience and the toughness of our team and the ability to come back time after time after time again,” Burke said. “We pride ourselves on being blue-collar, mentally tough, physically tough, and that’s about the toughest 10 minutes of basketball we played all season.” “It told me what I already knew. We full of dawgs,” Lewis-Williams said about what she learned about her team from this comeback. “That’s our thing. That’s been out thing throughout the season.” Lewis-Williams finished the game with 15 points and 11 rebounds, Cornfield added 14 points. While Buffalo was able to surge in the fourth quarter, the first three quarters were controlled by Bowling Green’s runs. Sophomore Paige Kohler, who led Olmsted Falls High School to a state championship appearance two years ago, orchestrated things early for the Falcons. Kohler scored Bowling Green’s first points on a tough driving floater in the paint, then dished out beautiful passes to cutting teammates for the team’s next two baskets. After her reverse layup underneath the basket, Kohler had scored or assisted on the Falcons’ first eight points. However, the Bulls went into the second quarter up 13-10, as Buffalo’s senior Sitota Gines created opportunities with her defense early, blocking three shots in the first four minutes of play. The Bulls finished the game with nine blocks despite only averaging 1.9 per game before tonight. “I do feel like we’re one of the more athletic teams in the league, if not the most athletic,” Burke said. “I felt like, protecting the rim today, those nine were really, really big.” The Falcons started the second quarter with a 7-0 run, capped by a 3-ball from Lexi Fleming to take a four-point lead. Bowling Green led by as much as six in the quarter, and went into halftime with the lead, 26-22. Despite shooting 31.4% from the field to the Bulls’ 41.7% in the first half, the Falcons maintained their lead by creating artificial opportunities through crashing the offensive boards. In the first half, Bowling Green came down with nine offensive rebounds to Buffalo’s three. Two big shots from Watson, a jumper and a 3-ball, gave the Bulls their lead back early in the third, 29-28. However, the Falcons responded with a spree of downtown daggers. Fleming knocked down a 3 from the corner, and then Kohler had her turn. Despite starting the game 0 for 5 from deep, Kohler drilled two straight 3s in stride to put Bowling Green up 39-32 midway through the third. The Kohler-Fleming deadly duo didn’t stop there. With 1:10 left in the quarter, Kohler dished it to Fleming in the corner who nailed her fourth triple of the game, putting the Falcons up 49-36, the largest lead of the game. It was Fleming’s 16th point and Kohler’s sixth assist. However, the Bulls’ 28-point fourth quarter proved to be just too much for the Falcons. Bowling Green head coach Fred Chmiel, having now been knocked out of the conference tournament two years in a row by Buffalo, said it’s “not a very good memory,” but he thinks the team will get there eventually. “There’s somewhat of a hump we need to get over consistency-wise,” Chmiel said. “But I think we’re on our way, and I think we’ve got some great pieces that are left in that locker room.”