Mistakes and mental errors are quickly becoming commonplace for the Buffalo women's basketball team. The Bulls (0-2) fell 73-61 to the University of Detroit Titans (1-1) on Tuesday night, never holding the lead throughout the contest. Buffalo fell behind by as many as 15 points and did not get closer than eight points in the second half.
"I was very disappointed in the teams performance," said head coach Linda Hill- MacDonald. "We turned the ball over far too many times and missed a lot of free throws and lay-ups and that dictated the outcome of the game."
Junior guard Stephanie Bennett led the Bulls in scoring with 17 points to go along with seven rebounds. Junior forward Heather Turner added nine points and 10 rebounds for Buffalo, who out rebounded the Titans 47-39.
Bennett has played well this season and is showing her experience is paying off. She led the Bulls in scoring in their previous contest against Canisius, which they lost, 74-58.
"I'm really pleased with Stephanie's performance," Hill-MacDonald said. "She's been showing a lot of maturity on the floor from the point guard position. She's worked a lot in the off-season to help get her shots off and she added a new dimension to her game in her ability to penetrate and score."
Buffalo fell behind early in the contest, as they went down by 10 points in the first 10 minutes of action. The Bulls scored only three points in the first five minutes and fell behind by as many as 15, before going into halftime down 12, 36-24. The Bulls stayed close in the second half, getting within eight points with six minutes remaining. From there, Detroit went on a 12-5 run to bring its lead to 15 with only three minutes left which sealed the victory for the Titans.
The Bulls committed 22 turnovers in the game, which resulted in 23 Detroit points. Buffalo also struggled shooting the ball from both the field and the free throw line. The Bulls shot 31 percent for the game and missed 10 free throws, going 15-25 from the line.
"Free throws are just practice," Hill-MacDonald said. "The more practice then the more confidence you'll have. The more confident then the more successful you should become. It's mental."
The Bulls were led by good inside play. As a team, they created 18 points off 20 offensive rebounds. However, the Bulls were unable to defend Detroit's strong perimeter play.
The Titans were lead by great guard play from Joyce Massey and Kandace Evans who combined for 43 points. Massey added eight rebounds and shot a perfect 10-10 from the line, including seven in the last 1:18 of the game. Evans added 17 points and hit four three-point shots.
"Evans had a career night against us," Hill-MacDonald said. "We had never seen her take threes that much before. Massy was penetrating and getting to the line and also hit some outside shots. These two players did things we didn't expect. Our players didn't make a good enough adjustment."
The game was a homecoming for Buffalo's sophomore guard Dortae Freeman, a graduate of Class Technical High school in Detroit, MI. Freeman played 17 minutes, scoring a career-high six points to go along with six rebounds.
"She didn't appear to be nervous," Hill-MacDonald said. "She was able to penetrate and get some rebounds. I thought she played well for us."
The Bulls will next travel this weekend to Elmira, N.Y. as one of four teams competing in the St. Bonaventure Tournament.
Buffalo will face Manhattan on Saturday at 4 p.m. and either Columbia or tournament host St. Bonaventure on Sunday.
"We have to prepare for the first game," Hill-MacDonald said. "Manhattan is going to be our focus. We'll prepare scouting reports for our next opponent after Manhattan."
After this weekend, the Bulls will play one more road game. Tuesday they will travel to Youngstown State and play at 7 p.m. which will be followed by their home opener next Friday at Alumni Arena against Holy Cross. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
