BUFFALO — Despite netting a season-high 80 points, the University at Buffalo women’s basketball team (16-7, 6-6 MAC) fell at home to the high-octane Northern Illinois Huskies in front of 1,532 fans at Alumni Arena on Saturday afternoon, 89-80. Junior Courtney Wilkins came off the bench and netted a career-high 18 points in the loss.
The turning point of the game came at the start of the fourth quarter as the Bulls entered the final quarter with the 65-60 edge. The Huskies opened up the fourth on a 16-0 run to take over the 76-65 edge and they never looked back. The closest the Bulls got after the big run by NIU was four points but the Huskies held on for the road win.
The Huskies offense started quick on Saturday as they jumped out to the 11-5 lead following a Courtney Woods jumper. The Bulls responded quickly with an 8-0 run as Wilkins drilled her first three pointer of the game and Stephanie Reid finished off a jumper and a three pointer, giving UB the 13-11 lead. With the game knotted, 15-15, JoAnna Smith closed out the opening quarter with five straight points to give UB the 20-17 lead through 10 minutes.
The two teams went back-and-forth to start the second quarter before Kelly Smith finished off a layup on a nice feed by Cassidy Glenn to give the Huskies the 28-27 lead halfway through the quarter. Smith responded quickly with a triple to regain the lead for UB 30-28 before the Huskies went on a quick 7-1 spurt to take the four point lead, 35-31. The Bulls went into the locker room strong as they finished on an 8-3 run capped by a Cassie Oursler jumper from Reid, to give themselves the 39-38 edge at halftime.
The third quarter was the best of the afternoon for the Bulls as they were able to net 26 points on 45% shooting while knocking down 6-of-8 free throws. Theresa Onwuka opened the scoring with a fast break layup off of a feed from Reid before Summer Hemphill finished off a pair of free throws. Reid then connected on a fast break layup and assisted on Mariah Suchan’s second three pointer of the season to give UB their biggest lead of the game, 48-40. The Huskies were able to cut UB’s lead down to one, 50-49, as Ally Lehman made a pair of free throws but Hemphill responded with an acrobatic layup to make the score 52-49 in favor of the Bulls with less than five left in the quarter. NIU took the three-point lead, 56-53, but Wilkins responded with a triple and capped a 9-4 run to close out the quarter with a layup and one, making the score 65-60 in favor of the Bulls.
After the Huskies opened the fourth on a 16-0 run, the Bulls tried crawling back into the game as Wilkins and Smith hit back-to-back jumpers to make the score 76-69 in favor of the visitors. After the Huskies made it a nine-point game, UB went on a quick 7-2 run powered by a Gabi Bade jumper, a Reid layup and a Reid layup and free throw which made it 80-76. The Bulls wouldn’t get any closer as the Huskies hit their free throws down the stretch to earn the 89-80 road win on Saturday.
Smith led the way offensively for the Bulls once again as she netted a team-high 22 points, including 18 first half points, three steals and two rebounds. The senior finished off her afternoon going 9-for-20 from the floor and 4-for-9 from behind the arc, giving her 32 games with three or more triples over her last 59 games. Smith has gone over the 20-point plateau nine times this year including five times in her last six games. Wilkins came off the bench and provided UB with a scoring threat as the junior netted a career-high 18 points on 7-for-15 from the floor and 2-for-9 from behind the arc. Wilkins also grabbed three rebounds in 23 minutes of work.
Reid continued her great play at the point as she finished off her third double-double of the season with 18 points, 12 assists, six rebounds and four steals in 37 minutes of action. With her seventh assist of the night, Reid recorded her 400th career assist which made her the fifth player in program history to do so. The junior has gone over the 10-assist plateau six times in her last 13 games while notching at least four steals in three of her last four games defensively. Freshman Summer Hemphill finished off her game with seven points, seven rebounds and a block in 17 minutes of work.
For the game, the Bulls were outshot 46.3% to 41.6% as they fell to 3-7 on the year when getting outshot by their opponents. The Huskies also dominated the glass as they won the rebounding battle 49-37. The Bulls were able to force 15 NIU turnovers but they only turned those chances into 12 points as the Huskies turned 11 UB turnovers into 16 points. The Huskies won the battle inside the paint, 40-34, as UB drops to 2-7 on the year when losing the battle inside.
Buffalo returns to the court on Wednesday night as they travel to Ypsilanti, Michigan for a showdown with the Eastern Michigan Eagles at the Convocation Center. Tip is set for 7 p.m. Tune into ESPN1520 at 6:30 pm as Matt Mattia gets you ready for action with the pre-game show.
from UBBulls.com via IFTTT