Even when not in the blustery confines of Buffalo, the UB women's basketball team cannot escape the cold doldrums that have plagued them over the last few games.
The Bulls (4-12, 2-4 Mid-American Conference) shot a dismal 28 percent from the field in the first half and just 31.5 percent for the game on Monday night against the Northern Illinois Huskies in the Convocation Center.
Add to that the fact that they were out-rebounded 39-26, and you have the recipe for an ugly 66-47 loss to the conference rival Huskies.
NIU (9-9, 4-3 MAC) took advantage of the Bulls interior defense, or lack thereof, with 32 points in the paint, including a pair of double-doubles from Joi Scott and Jennifer Youngblood.
"They have two great kids inside in Jennifer Youngblood and Joi Scott," said UB head coach Cheryl Dozier. "We knew they were going to go at us."
Northern Illinois had two huge scoring runs against UB. The first was a 14-0 run, which ended the first half. The Bulls were scoreless for the final 6:25 seconds of the half.
Dozier attributed foul trouble and a lackluster defense for the first half woes.
"When we got into foul trouble in the first half, we went to a zone and they hit two quick threes and really broke things open with that 14-0 run," said Dozier.
The second big scoring run iced the game for NIU. UB had gotten within eight points with the score 53-45, but the Huskies went on a 13-2 scoring run in the final three minutes of the game to put it out of reach.
The only points scored by Buffalo in that stretch were on a jumper by Brooke Meunier with 32 seconds remaining on the clock.
Belinda Gibb had her best game for the Bulls in scoring 12 points to go along with three assists and four rebounds. Jessica Kochendorfer led the team in scoring with 14 points.
A factor that played into the Bulls' poor defense and rebounding was their lack of rest. Only being able to suit up eight players for their games on this road trip has really tired out their main players over the course of the past five games in ten days.
"We are in a bit of a predicament with only eight players, but we need to battle through that," said Dozier.
Dozier, however, remained optimistic about that fact, as well.
"The good thing is that a lot of our younger kids are getting great minutes and really contributing," she said.
The Bulls next play at 1 p.m. Saturday in Bowling Green.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
