Having built a strong reputation on the road this season, UB women's basketball started its home game Wednesday night with a surge of promise, opening a 7-1 lead in the first four minutes. But after that, the home woes set in.
The Bulls gave up an 11-0 run and never saw the lead again, as Buffalo dropped a 67-57 decision to the Toledo Rockets in front of a pocket-sized Alumni Arena crowd of 643 fans.
The Rockets, who came into Alumni on a four-game losing streak, started the game playing man-to-man defense but quickly switched to zone after they fell behind to the quick-hitting Buffalo offense. Once they got settled into their zone defense, the Toledo defenders started giving the Bulls trouble.
"Our zone offense is usually pretty good for us and teams usually get out of it pretty quickly," said Bulls head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "We had difficulty finding the basket tonight."
That might be an understatement. The Bulls were held to 37.3 percent shooting on the night including a dismal 30.8 percent in the first half.
Despite their poor shooting as a unit, the Bulls (7-10 overall, 2-4 Mid-American Conference) saw strong efforts offensively from their three leading scorers. Sophomore forward Heather Turner, freshman forward Jamie Schiebner and senior guard Brooke Meunier combined for 39 of their team's 47 points, as Schiebner had 12, Meunier had a game-high 14 and Turner had 13.
"We had some open looks and didn't take shots. We played around with the ball too much," Hill-MacDonald said. "There were too many times that the shot clock was running down and they were in a panic to take some kind of a shot instead of creating a good shot. There just wasn't enough of a flow tonight on offense."
Toledo's defense was solid against the Bulls' three-point shooters as they hit just one of eight shots in the first half, and three of nine in the second half.
"We knew we had to get out on their three-point shooters and I thought we did a good job on that," said Rockets head coach Mark Ehlen.
In addition to her 12 points on 5-8 shooting, Turner pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season.
"Turner's hard to stop at any time," Ehlen said.
Despite her valiant rebounding effort, the Bulls were unable to win the rebounding battle. The Rockets had 31 as compared to the Bulls' 29.
"We've really had problems rebounding the ball," Ehlen said. "So I'm happy that a lot of times we only gave them one shot."
The Rockets were able to grab 22 defensive boards, limiting the Bulls' second-chance opportunities.
With the ball, Toledo (7-9, 2-4 MAC) was able to hit its shots with exceptional accuracy. The Rockets shot a deadly 52.6 percent en route to a 26-point second half.
"It was just a matter of us executing offensively in the second half," Ehlen said.
The Rockets executed well and were able to methodically pick apart the Bulls' defense, getting to the basket for 34 points in the paint. The Rockets' tenacity on offense fed their defense, and their defense stifled the Bulls' offense for most of the second half.
"When they're playing well offensively, they're also fired up at the defensive end," Hill-MacDonald said. "They're playing hard and getting out into the passing lanes, and taking away your solid looks at the rim."
A combination of both the Rockets' energy on defense and the Bulls' short bench contributed to UB's fatigue toward the end of the game.
"The short bench has definitely been a factor," Hill-MacDonald said.
The absence of freshman guard Rachelle Matthys has contributed to the Bulls' short bench. Matthys has not played in the last five games for UB as she is suffering from a stress fracture. Matthys could be out for at least the next six weeks.
"She's out as long as the medical personnel feel she needs to be held out," said Hill-MacDonald. "It's typically a six- to eight-week process."
Matthys had been averaging 7.4 points per game and had been a sparkplug for the Bulls off the bench.
"Not having Rachelle to rotate in has really disrupted our rotation and we haven't worked out the puzzle yet to really replace what she brought us," Hill-MacDonald said. "Hopefully, we'll get that solved."
Hill-MacDonald admits, however, that factor is completely out of her hands.
"There's nothing we can do about it," she said. "We just have to groom the players coming in off the bench and help them become more confident and more productive, and they just have to keep working hard and understanding that they have an important role on the team right now. And the minutes, whether they be short minutes or long minutes, are really vital to the success of the team."
The Bulls will have their next chance at success Saturday night at Alumni Arena at 7 p.m. against the Eastern Michigan Eagles (12-5, 6-5 MAC).
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
