After breaking a five-game losing streak last Tuesday at Akron, the Bulls looked to Monday night's home game against the Western Michigan Broncos for their second win in a row, a feat the young team has not managed to accomplish this season.
However, the Bulls (4-16 overall, 2-7 Mid-American Conference) lost their intensity and focus late in the game, eventually falling to the Broncos (8-14, 5-6 MAC), 70-58.
"Western Michigan didn't do anything different in the second half than they did in the first half," said Bulls' head coach Cheryl Dozier. "We just lost focus. You just can't do that. One thing I talk to these kids about a lot is focus. There is not a night in this league or a half or a minute or 30 seconds that you can take off in this league. You can not go out on the basketball court at anytime in this league and just lose focus because you'll pay for it."
And pay for it, they did.
The game started off promising for Buffalo, as the Bulls managed to score the opening basket for only the seventh time this season. Freshman forward Heather Turner put the first points on the board at the 18:15 mark on a Brooke Meunier assist, even though she was closely covered by WMU's Kelly Koerber, who had a game high 22 points.
"They were double and triple teaming me but I really tried to work and get positioning," said Turner.
Turner went on to score a team and career high 20 points and grab 12 rebounds, pulling off a double-double for the fifth time this season and the second game in a row.
"Every night, night in and night out, Heather has given us what she can give us and she's definitely been a bright spot for us," said Dozier. "It's going to be a bright future with her."
The team's shooting percentages were anything but bright spots in the game. The team shot 39.4 percent from the field, making only 26 of 66.
Even darker was the team's 3-point percentage. While WMU made 63.6 percent from the perimeter, UB made a miserable 7.7 percent, only sinking one of their 13 attempts.
The Bulls were also 33.3 percent from the line while the Broncos made all 15 of their free throws.
While their scoring was grim, the Bulls still managed to force the Broncos to 22 turnovers, stealing the ball 13 times. Freshman Stephanie Bennett had a career high six steals, along with four assists.
While the Bennett sisters combine for an average of 15.9 points a game, they only had a total of nine Monday night. Senior Alison Bennett missed all six of her free throws, along with every one of her 3-point attempts. Stephanie Bennett posted seven points, three of which came from Buffalo's only successful 3-point attempt with 23 seconds remaining in the first half.
Rounding out the starting line up, Meunier threw in 17 points for the Bulls while sophomore Belinda Gibb poured in 12.
Not a single point was put on the board by a player coming off of the bench for the Bulls. Flynn Pyykkonen, the bench player who was on the court for the most time, 12 minutes, went 0-for-8 from the field and 0-for-5 from beyond the arc. Four of her five 3-point attempts came in the last four minutes of regulation.
"We have to got get bench play, bench production," said Dozier. "We're not getting it right now. We're going to have to rectify that a little bit. We are going to have to get some minutes out of our bench."
The Bulls will take to the road on Wednesday, traveling to Eastern Michigan. Tip-off against the Eagles is set for 7 p.m.
