Spiraling Out of Control

The UB women's basketball team can count on Jessica Kochendorfer to turn in an excellent performance every time they go out.

This year's problem, however, is that as good as Kochendorfer's effort is, it has usually not been nearly enough for the beleaguered Bulls. This was true Saturday in Oxford, Ohio, as Buffalo locked horns with the Miami (OH) RedHawks.

It was a day that saw Kochendorfer set a new UB record, but also one that saw the Bulls fall hard at the hands of the first-place Miami RedHawks, 98-71.

MU (20-6, 13-1 Mid-American Conference) increased their winning streak to 12 straight, while Buffalo (6-19, 4-11 MAC) lost for the sixth time in their last seven games.

Kim Kilpela had another strong outing for the Bulls, scoring a team-high 19 points to go along with six rebounds and two blocked shots. In addition to 17 points and nine boards, Kochendorfer had two blocked shots, surpassing Nicole Blakeslee as UB's all-time leader in career blocks with 160.

Setting records may be a nice sidebar, but turnovers were the story of the game as UB gave the ball up eight times on their first ten possessions. The Bulls were not out of the game yet however, as sophomore Lauren Burd came up with three buckets in a little more than three minutes, keeping UB within six with less than five minutes to play in the half.

Miami fought off the Bulls' rally, going on a 6-0 run that gave them a 12-point lead they would hold all the way to the half. The teams went into the locker room with the RedHawks holding a 46-34 advantage over the Bulls.

Miami is ranked eighth in the nation offensively and they proved it right off the bat in the second half, going on a 15-2 run that really sealed the Bulls fate for the night.

For the game, Miami was 32 for 71 from the floor and a spectacular 35 for 37 from the foul line. Sophomore Cindi Merrill led Miami's scoring attack with 20 points, 15 of which came in the first half.

"I can't say enough about Cindi Merrill, she's just an all-around player," said UB head coach Cheryl Dozier. "They wore us down and we got tired and they knocked down their free-throws."

With Merrill leading the way in the first, senior Colleen Day took charge in the second, getting 16 of her 18 total points in the game's final 20 minutes. UB was never able to mount a real comeback.

UB did improve in one area in the second half, with Miami scoring 21 points off 16 Buffalo turnovers in the first half, but only four points off five turnovers in the second.

"I was pleased with our offensive performance today," said Dozier. "But we didn't play defense the way we needed to, Miami as a very athletic team with a lot of leadership and a lot of offensive weapons."

UB finishes out their regular season schedule at 7 p.m. this Tuesday against the Ohio Bobcats in Alumni Arena.