Jan. 16, 2010
Final Stats
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Buffalo did not prove to be the most gracious of hosts and shot a season-best 51 percent, including 64 percent from behind the arc, to hand Ohio a tough 76-62 setback Saturday in Alumni Arena.
The win snapped a three-game Ohio (4-13, 0-4 MAC) winning streak in the series with the Bulls (5-12, 1-3 MAC). The Green and White finished the game shooting 36 percent from the field, 25-for-68. The `Cats got a strong outing from their bench as it totaled 28 points in the contest. Buffalo won the battle on the boards 43-32.
Ashley Fowler (Cincinnati, Ohio) scored a team-high 12 points to lead Ohio, while a trio of `Cats each totaled eight, including Jennifer Bushby (Gahanna, Ohio), Carolyn Barnett (North Chicago, Ill.) and Da'Keisha Mann (Columbus, Ohio). Bushby totaled a game-high three steals to lead the Green and White, while Barnett tied a career-high seven rebounds. Symone Lyles (Silver Spring, Md.) notched season bests of five points and four boards.
The Bulls came out gunning and hit their first four shots from the field en route to an early 12-2 lead just over three minutes into play. Ohio cut the lead to six after buckets from Bushby and Barnett, but Buffalo's hot hand from outside managed the Bulls to go up by 11, 20-9, with 11:52 left in the half.
The `Cats kept fighting over the next few minutes and hit the shots they needed to stay in the action, but Buffalo's Brittany Hedderson's strong shooting kept the Bulls in front 29-16. A pair of Kourtney Brown layins off steals gave Buffalo a 20-point lead at 36-16 with 6:27 left in the half.
Jenny Poff (St. John's, Mich.) knocked down a big 3-pointer off a Bushby feed to cut the lead to 17. Both squads exchanged scores over the next stretch of action, and the Bulls led 43-26 with 2:11 remaining in the half. Fowler knocked down a trey to cut the deficit to 14, but Buffalo responded with a pair of buckets at the end of the half to take a 47-29 lead into the lockerroom.
The Bulls scorched the nets from deep, knocking down seven treys while finishing at a 63 percent clip from behind the arc and 56 percent overall from the floor. Ohio finished the stanza shooting 34 percent from the field and 50 percent from deep on 4-of-8 shooting.
Buffalo's hot hand could not be extinguished the first part of the second half, and Ohio's rims were rather unforgiving as the Bulls went ahead 54-33. The deficit was built to 24 after a Hedderson triple with just over 12 minutes left. The Green and White kept pushing, but the rims on its side would remain as cold as the weather outside. Buffalo went ahead by as many as 30 points. A Fowler bucket in transition cut the lead to 24.
The `Cats refused to just roll over and fought back to cut the deficit to 72-54 with 3:39 after a Barnett layin off a coast-to-coast drive. Mann knocked down a free throw to put the lead at 16. She then converted an old-fashioned three-point play to cut the lead down to 13 at 74-61. Both sides exchanged some free throws over the last minute as the game concluded at 76-62.
Hedderson led four Buffalo players in double figures with a team-high 17 points, while Brown totaled a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds.
The Green and White returns to Athens Wednesday when it entertains Akron. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Convo.
