The Buffalo defense was the difference in the game as they held the Broncos to just 26.2% shooting from the floor while turning the ball over 18 times. The Bulls allowed a season-low 22 points to Western Michigan in the second half as UB turned the 18 turnovers into 18 points. The Bulls improved to 12-0 this season while holding their opponents to under 59 points while they improved to 17-0 over the past two seasons when holding their opponents to 50 points or less. Buffalo also improved to 12-0 this season and 29-1 over the past two seasons when holding the edge in shooting percentage.
The Bulls opened up the scoring in the first minute as Theresa Onwuka took a feed and drove in and finished off a pretty layup. JoAnna Smith then stole a pass and raced down for the fast break layup to give the Bulls the 4-3 edge before WMU score five straight to take the 8-4 lead. After another Onwuka layup, the Broncos scored five straight again to hold the 13-6 lead. The Bulls then regained the lead with a 9-1 run that was capped by Smith’s first three pointer of the game to make it 15-14 in favor of the Bulls. The Broncos finished the first with three straight to take the 17-15 edge through 10 minutes.
Smith was the difference in the second quarter for the Bulls as the senior was able to connect on three straight three pointers to open the scoring and force a Broncos timeout as UB raced out to the 24-17 lead. After the Broncos ended the 9-0 UB run with a layup, Brittany Morrison finished off a layup and then stole a pass, ran the length of the court and dished off to Gabi Bade for a jumper to give the Bulls the 28-19 edge. The Broncos went on a 6-0 run to bring the score within 28-25 but Stephanie Reid netted a pair of free throws and Onwuka finished off an offensive rebound and layup to give the Bulls the 32-25 lead at halftime.
After the Broncos came out in the third quarter strong and cut the Buffalo lead to just one, 35-34, the Bulls responded with an 11-0 run to close out the quarter with the 12 point edge. Junior Mariah Suchan was huge during the run for the Bulls as her strong defense led to six points offensively as the Bulls earned the 46-34 lead through 30 minutes.
The Broncos cut the deficit to 10 with a jumper to open the fourth quarter but they were not able to get any closer as the Bulls defense locked in and held Western Michigan to just 4-for-12 shooting for the quarter. With the 52-40 lead, Buffalo received an acrobatic jumper from Smith and a deep triple to extend their lead out to a game-high 17, 57-40. With the game in hand down the stretch, Smith took a Reid steal and finished off a fast break layup to close out the scoring and give UB the 62-47 road victory.
Smith moved into 11th place on UB’s all-time scoring charts as she finished with a game-high 27 points on 11-for-20 from the floor and 5-for-11 from behind the arc. Smith also snagged four rebounds and two steals across 38 minutes of work. Onwuka was the only other UB player to score in double figures as she netted 11 points, six rebounds and three steals while playing a career-high 40 minutes.
Reid had a quiet game scoring the basketball as she only netted three points but the junior was able to notch eight assists and five steals in 38 minutes. Reid has now recorded at least eight assists in nine of her last 13 games for the Bulls as she is averaging 12 helpers/game over her last three contests. Katherine Ups had a great game off the bench as she grabbed 11 rebounds (five offensive rebounds) and three points while Morrison finished off her game with four points and a season-high nine rebounds. Suchan capped her afternoon with eight points and five rebounds in the win.
For the game, the Buffalo defense was stifling as they held the Broncos to just 26.2% shooting for the game while the Bulls shot 38.2%. The Bulls forced 18 turnovers and UB scored 18 points off of those turnovers while Buffalo turned the ball over just 12 times. The paint was dominated by the Bulls as they outscored WMU, 32-24, improving to 14-0 this season when scoring more points in the paint than their opponents. The Bulls bench outscored the Broncos 17-7 while UB won the fast break category for the 17th time on the season, 6-4, improving to 14-3 when doing so.
The Broncos were led in scoring by Marley Hill as she finished the game with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Breanna Mobley netted eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds in the loss.
Buffalo will stay on the road on Wednesday, as they head to Toledo, OH to take on the Rockets. Wednesday’s game is set to tip at 7 p.m. and will air live on ESPN3.
from UBBulls.com via IFTTT
All WNY is made possible thanks to coffee and sleep deprivation.
We appreciate your readership. We like money, too.
