With 1:04 remaining in the game and the contest tied at 61 points apiece, the ball must be in the hands of the playmaker.
And freshman phenom guard Hollie Cook is a "playmaker" for the Buffalo Bulls.
Cook was fouled, but still was able to score on a layup. She then converted the free throw, giving the Bulls a three-point lead, which they would not relinquish.
"The bottom line is that we're continuing our momentum," said UB women's head coach Cheryl Dozier after the Bulls (17-9, 9-6 MAC) come from behind, taking the victory over the Miami (Ohio) RedHawks (15-11, 10-5 MAC), 69-64, on Saturday night. The loss snapped Miami's five-game winning streak.
The victory puts the Bulls, who have won six in a row, in a position to capture the MAC East Division title and a first round bye in the MAC Tournament, and it assures them of at least one home playoff game in the first round. Their last trial is a visit from rival Kent State Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in Alumni Arena. If UB wins, and Marshall University defeats Miami Tuesday night, the Bulls would share the East Division crown with Miami and, depending on tiebreakers that are impacted by other games Tuesday night, would earn a bye in the first round of the MAC Tournament.
For the Bulls to win the East, three things must occur. UB must beat KSU Tuesday night, Miami must lose to Marshall at home Tuesday night, and Western Michigan must defeat Northern Illinois on the road Tuesday night. If any of those situations do not occur, Miami or Kent State would take the title.
UB is currently tied for second place with Kent State (9-6 MAC) in the East Division, and needs a win to avoid being passed by the Golden Flashes.
While most of the glory will go to her teammate Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe, who is on a Kobe Bryant-like tear, Cook's ability to put amazing numbers in every stat column is the reason why she held the ball in the waning moments of the contest.
Cook played the full 40 minutes, while tallying six steals and six assists. Her total points for the game was brought to eight in the final 3:18.
"Cook was great defensively," said Dozier. "She had six steals and probably about twenty deflections. She really disrupted everything Miami tried to do offensively."
Miami came out in the first half and ran to an early lead that had the Bulls on the ropes with a 40-30 lead at halftime.
"I was disappointed in the first half with our defense," said Dozier. "We allowed Miami to shoot 50 percent from the floor and gave them point blank looks at the basket."
Miami was able to take advantage of defensive breakdowns in the first half, stretching their lead to as high as 12 points. UB was able to adjust in the locker room and, for some players, halftime was needed to get settled down.
"We went to a 3-2 zone defense," said Dozier. "I feel like our kids came out in the second half and let our defense dictate the game."
At the break Dozier also addressed her star player's struggles in the first half.
"In the first half she wasn't getting into her flow of things offensively," said Dozier, speaking of MAC Player of the Week McMeeken-Ruscoe. "We took her out, settled her down a bit. She came out in the second half and really played extremely well."
McMeeken-Ruscoe led all UB players with 20 points, but it was a team effort that captured the win for the Bulls.
"It was a total team win," said Dozier. "We had kids coming off the bench to give us great minutes."
Kent State rolls in with a history of domination over the Bulls. The Golden Flashes have never lost to UB, going 10-0 all-time. They defeated Buffalo 71-56 back on Feb. 5. In last year's meeting in Buffalo, the Bulls had possession of the ball with 26 seconds left but were unable to get a shot off, allowing KSU to escape with a 72-71 win.
With Kent State, the Bulls know they're facing an opponent with a different style than Miami.
"KSU uses their post players a little bit more than Miami," said McMeeken-Ruscoe. "They're more of an inside-outside threat, while Miami was more guard oriented. They're going to be very physical as well, so we're going to have to be used to that."
"We are going to have to match (Kent State's) physical play," said Dozier. "The key to our success these last couple weeks has been rebounding and we have limited our turnovers."
The bench is another area that UB will look to for an advantage over the Golden Flashes.
"I think we're going to have more depth than them," said McMeeken-Ruscoe. "They don't run a lot of their players so it's going to be a big key for us, our bench players."
With the situation in the standings as it is this final home game is in essence a playoff game and a win would be exactly what the seniors would want to leave the floor with.
"Personally, I can't wait." said McMeeken-Ruscoe, whose parents will be flying in from New Zealand to attend the game. "It took me a little while to get into the flow of things. I was talking to the coaches and they let me know that this is my senior year and I'd better step it up, and the last five or six games that's what I've done. I definitely want to go out with a bang, individually and as a team. We need the school to know how big this game is. If we beat Kent State we could be the MAC East champions. We beat Kent State I'm going out with a win. We beat Kent State a lot of things are going to happen and we're going to be saying a lot of things to the MAC and to the nation. It's going to be huge."
