Saturday's 79-46 loss to the Eastern Michigan Eagles in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament in Ypsilanti, Mich. put a period at the end of a tough season for the women's basketball team.
On its way to victory, EMU (22-6 overall) led by 29 at the halfway mark, and by as much as 42 in the second half.
The closest the Bulls (4-24) would get was at the 12-minute mark in the first half, with the score 14-8. From that point, the Eagles went on a 25-2 scoring run over the next nine minutes, and the Bulls went into the half with just 17 points.
"Eastern Michigan came out with a defensive intensity we expected because of what happened against Toledo on Tuesday," said Bulls' head coach Cheryl Dozier. "(Eastern Michigan's) press really gave us trouble and we couldn't get much going."
Last Tuesday, the Toledo Rockets had a late come-from-behind victory against the Eagles that knocked them out of contention for a first-round bye.
EMU was able to hold the Bulls to just 35.2 percent shooting from the field and only one player in double figures for points. Heather Turner led the Bulls with 15 points in the game.
"Heather Turner had another strong game for us, even though we couldn't get the ball to her as much as we wanted to," said Dozier. "She's been a bright spot all year and really established herself as a legitimate candidate for MAC Freshman of the Year honors."
In this game, however, the Bulls' freshman forward was unable to take control of this game and carry the Bulls to victory.
Eastern Michigan's Nikki Knapp led all scorers with 26 points on 11-for-14 shooting from the field.
Not only did the Bulls not have an answer for Knapp, but they could not contain EMU's Ryan Coleman, who had 17 points, 13 of which came in the first half.
The Bulls fell behind early in this game and were not able to come back.
"It came down to a lot of the little things again - taking care of the basketball, boxing out, knocking down open looks. We have a lot to work on now during the off-season, a lot of little things to get better at," said Dozier.
UB was out-rebounded by a 46-23 margin and showed no interior defense, giving up 52 points in the paint.
Buffalo's transition game suffered as well, as the Eagles were able to score 16 fast-break points. They also turned the ball over 16 times, as compared to EMU's 12.
Because of their victory, the Eagles now advance to Cleveland to face the Ball State Cardinals on Wednesday.
The other games played on Saturday include Miami (Ohio) defeating Western Michigan, Ball State beating Akron, Ohio beating Central Michigan, and Toledo having the upper hand against Northern Illinois.
The next round of games will be played on Wednesday, March 9, starting with Miami (Ohio) facing off against top-seeded Bowling Green at 1 p.m. That game will be followed by Ball State versus Central Michigan at 3 p.m. with the next game pitting Ohio against Kent State at 5:30 p.m. Lastly, the finale will include Toledo taking on Marshall at 7:30 p.m.
The tournament's semifinals will be played on March 11, with the championship game underway on the following day. All MAC Tournament games will be played at Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
