BUFFALO — The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team (11-4, 1-3 MAC) dropped their third straight Mid-American Conference match on Wednesday night at Alumni Arena as the Toledo Rockets earned the 73-64 victory. The loss was the Bulls first home loss of the season as they fall to 1-3 in MAC play.
The first quarter was the difference in the game as the Bulls were outscored 20-9 through the first 10 minutes of action. After Theresa Onwuka opened the scoring with a jumper just 29 seconds into the game, the Rockets went on a 10-2 run to take the 10-4 advantage midway through the quarter. Mariah Suchan drilled a three pointer that brought UB within three, 10-7, but the Rockets defense would propel them down the stretch as they finished the first quarter on a 10-2 run to take the 11-point edge after one quarter.
The Rockets opened the second quarter with a three-point play that gave them the 23-11 edge before the Bulls responded with a quick 5-0 spurt as Summer Hemphill hit a free throw and JoAnna Smith buried back-to-back fast break layups. After Kaayla McKintyre made a contested layup in the lane to make the score 27-18 in favor of the Rockets, Cassie Oursler and Stephanie Reid had back-to-back buckets to cut the Buffalo deficit to five, 27-22, but that was as close as the Bulls would get as Toledo took the 40-30 edge into the locker room.
The Rockets were able to extend their lead out to 14 midway through the third quarter as they were able to outscore UB 8-4. A pretty layup by Onwuka cut the lead back to 12, 50-38, and it looked like UB might have some life but the Rockets were able to go on a 5-0 run to take their biggest lead of the game, 55-38. The Bulls were able to outscore Toledo 4-0 down the stretch to enter the final quarter trailing by 13.
Buffalo made an effort to mount the comeback but it wasn’t enough in the final quarter as the Rockets were able to hit their free throws down the stretch and seal the win. After a steal by Smith and layup by Hemphill, the Rockets lead was cut down to 10 but UB wasn’t able to get any closer until the waining minutes of the game. UB outscored Toledo 22-18 in the fourth quarter but it wasn’t enough as the Rockets sank 10 free throws to seal the game.
Reid led the way for the Bulls offensively as she was able to net her second double-double of the season and third of her career as she finished with 11 points, 10 assists, four steals and three rebounds in the loss. She has now notched 10 assists in three of her last five games for UB. Smith finished off her night with 16 points, two rebounds and two steals as she moved into 20th place on the Bulls all-time scoring charts. Onwuka had another strong offensive game in her second straight start as she finished with 13 points on 6-for-8 from the floor to go along with three rebounds and two steals. Hemphill finished off her night with six points and a team-high nine rebounds while collecting a block in her 12th straight game.
For the game, Buffalo was outshot from the floor 48.1% to 36.1% as they fall to 2-4 this season when shooting a lower percentage from the floor than their opponent. The Rockets dominated the paint on Wednesday night as they outscored UB 40-24 while also holding the 23-13 edge in bench scoring. Buffalo turned the ball over 19 times which led to 16 Toledo points. Buffalo also struggled from the charity stripe as they went just 16-for-31 (51.6%) for the game.
Prior to the game, lone Buffalo senior JoAnna Smith was honored with a ball presentation for scoring her 1,000th career point on Wednesday at Ohio. Smith is just the 23rd member of the Bulls 1,000-point club.
Buffalo will return to the hardwood on Saturday afternoon as they head to Oxford, OH to take on the Miami RedHawks for the second time this season. Tip is set for 1:00 pm on Saturday and can be watched on ESPN3.
from UBBulls.com via IFTTT
