The UB women's basketball team lost another close game on Saturday at Alumni Arena, losing to Northern Illinois (7-19, 4-11 MAC) in the final seconds by a score of 61-59. The Bulls (4-22, 2-13 MAC) had the lead throughout the game, but in the end, they failed to finish off the Huskies.
"The hard thing for the team is that we have never been in that situation before," said Dozier. "We haven't had games that have been that close."
Saturday was the last home game of the season for the Bulls, as well as Senior Day at Alumni Arena. Allison Bennett, Amy Kucheran and Talia Merlino all played in front of the home crowd for the last time and were honored in a ceremony before the game. Also receiving honors, but unable to play was Erin Lawrenson.
Brooke Meunier got off to a hot start, scoring the game's first five points. Meunier also scored nine of the Bulls first 15 points. The Bulls came out and took a 10-3 advantage five minutes into the game. They held onto the lead for much of the first half, until Northern Illinois tied the game at 17 just five minutes before halftime. UB managed to take the lead again, and the score was 30-28 going into the second half.
The second half saw a quick start for UB as the Bulls' sister act, Allison and Stephanie Bennett each hit a quick 3-pointer to begin. Belinda Gibb capped off the 8-0 scoring run with a jumper. Two minutes in, UB was up by 10, 38-28.
Northern Illinois started its comeback after being down 10. With 6:49 remaining on the clock, the Huskies took their first lead of the game, at 49-48.
The lead did not last long, however, as UB built up another four-point lead, 57-53, with 3:35 showing on the clock. After Northern Illinois tied the game at 57, Allison Bennett scored with 1:42 on the clock. UB would not score again.
The key play of the game happened with 30 seconds left on the clock and the game tied at 59. Following an under the hoop scurry, UB was unable to pull down a rebound, giving Northern Illinois three chances to make the game-winning shot. Northern Illinois' Jamie Wilson was awarded two free throws with 12 seconds left on the clock. Wilson sank both shots, and UB had one final opportunity, down by two, to either bring the game to overtime, or win it in regulation with a 3-pointer.
After a UB timeout, Brooke Meunier took the ball up court, only to be met by a swarm of defensive pressure. Rachel Sillar stole the ball and was able to run out the clock for the Huskies.
"Brooke has been in that position many times throughout her college career," Dozier said. "I wanted to see if she could get herself into the paint area, and try to make a shot. We've run that play successfully for her before. The difficulty was that Brooke could not get clear space on her dribble."
Brooke Meunier, who had 17 points and eight rebounds while playing 37 minutes in the game, led UB. Northern Illinois was led by Stephanie Raymond, who had a game-high 19 points to go along with nine rebounds and five assists.
There were a lot of missed opportunities throughout the second half that the Bulls could have taken advantage of, so that UB would not have been in a situation where they needed a basket in the closing seconds.
"I don't think the game came down to Brooke's play," said Dozier. "I think the game came down to the rebound before. If we block out, rebound, and don't foul the kid shooting the basketball, she doesn't go to the foul line and maybe the game goes to overtime. There also was a four minute stretch where we turned the ball over, and allowed Northern Illinois back into the game when we were up 10."
UB will try to put this loss out of their minds as they end their season at Kent State on Tuesday, taking on the Golden Flashes. Tip off will be at 7 p.m. Northern Illinois heads home to take on Bowling Green on Tuesday in their season finale.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
