BUFFALO — Behind a season-high 13 three pointers, the University at Buffalo women’s basketball team (18-7, 8-6 MAC) cruised to an 81-51 win over the Akron Zips on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena. With the win, the Bulls improved to 11-3 at home this season, most wins at home since 2002-03. Buffalo netted a season-high 81 points while also improving to 14-0 on the year when holding their opponents to 59 points or less.
The Buffalo defense was the difference in the game on Saturday as they were able to hold the Zips to a season-low five points in the first quarter and 13 points in the opening half. The Stingy UB defense forced Akron to shoot just 27.9% from the floor and 10.0% from the three point line while also forcing 21 turnovers.
The Bulls raced out to an 11-0 lead just over two minutes into the game as JoAnna Smith buried a pair of triples while Mariah Suchan hit a three of her own and Cassie Oursler made a jumper off of a Stephanie Reid feed, forcing an Akron timeout. After Akron made it 16-4 in favor of the Bulls with three minutes to play in the first, Buffalo went on a 5-1 run to close out the quarter as Reid drilled a triple and Theresa Onwuka and Courtney Wilkins made free throws to give UB the 22-5 lead through 10 minutes.
Buffalo continued to pour it on in the second quarter as they went on a 12-2 run to start things off. Wilkins drilled a triple while Katherine Ups and Oursler both finished off a pair of layups to give UB the 34-7 edge with 6:41 left in the first half. After the Zips made it 34-9, Buffalo went on another 9-0 run that was capped by a Reid triple with two minutes to play in the half. The Zips closed the scoring with a layup with three seconds remaining in the half as UB secured their biggest halftime lead of the season, 45-13.
Reid opened the second half with seven of the Bulls first 12 points to give UB the 57-17 edge with 7:16 left in the third. After a Hannah Plybon layup cut UB’s lead to 38, the Bulls were able to surge ahead by a season-high 44 points as Wilkins drilled her second triple of the game. Liisa Ups gave UB solid minutes down the stretch of the third quarter as she hit a three pointer to give the Bulls the 70-31 edge heading into the final quarter.
The Buffalo bench was able to able to receive some valuable playing time in the fourth quarter as the game was already decided. Summer Hemphill opened the scoring in the fourth as Reid gave her a perfect feed, her 10th assist of the season. All 11 fourth quarter points were produced by the UB bench as Gabi Bade led the way with three points and five rebounds.
Reid led the Bulls in scoring for the sixth time this season as she finished off her team-leading fourth double-double of the season with 17 points, 11 assists, five rebounds and a steal. Reid has now notched at least 10 assists seven times, all within her last 15 games. Oursler had one of her best games of the season as she finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and a career-high five blocks in just 20 minutes of work. Smith had a strong offensive outing as she netted 15 points on 5-for-11 from the floor and 5-for-7 from behind the arc. Smith also grabbed four rebounds while dishing out a season-high three assists in the win.
Bade had a strong game on the glass for the Bulls as she ripped down a career-high 10 rebounds to go along with five points, one assist and one steal in 22 minutes. Wilkins was strong off the bench as she netted seven points, three rebounds and two steals while Katherine Ups finished off her second straight start with four points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Hemphill finished her game with nine rebounds while Ayoleka Sodade grabbed a career-high five boards, four offensive.
For the game, the Bulls got after the glass as they won the rebounding battle 57-37, their second most rebounds in a game this season. UB was also able to get after the offensive glass as they grabbed 18 offensive rebounds and turned those into 13 second chance points. The Bulls continued to dominate the fast break scoring category as they outscored the Zips 18-10 for the game as they have now won that category in 21 of 25 games.
As a team, the Bulls shot 38.2% from the floor while the Zips only shot 27.9% as UB improved to 15-0 this season and 32-1 over the past two seasons when shooting a higher percentage from the floor than their opponents.
Buffalo will stay at home on Wednesday night as they welcome the Ohio Bobcats to Alumni Arena for their second of three straight at home. Tip is set for 7:00 pm and will air live on ESPN3 with Paul Peck and Amy Audibert on the call.
from UBBulls.com via IFTTT
