One thing women's head basketball coach Linda Hill-MacDonald couldn't have been thankful for over the holiday break was her team's abysmal shooting.
"This didn't look like the team that played last weekend," Hill-MacDonald said.
The Bulls (2-4) averaged just 28 percent shooting from the field in their pair of losses against Youngstown State (1-2) and Holy Cross (3-3) over Thanksgiving break.
Hill-MacDonald guided her team into Youngstown, Ohio for a Tuesday match up with the Penguins at the Beeghly Center. The team was overwhelmed from the beginning and found themselves down 40-23 after the first half.
The team never was able to bring the contest back into reach and with time dwindling, Hill-MacDonald chose to reward her lesser-used players with precious game experience. By the end of regulation every Bulls player had seen the court.
"We played poor defense, horrific defense even," Hill-MacDonald said. "I'm very disappointed in our rebounding effort and that we turned the ball over."
The lopsided contest ended 78-44 with the Penguin's sophomore guards Monique Godfrey and Velissa Vaughn tying for a game-high 17 points and junior guard Heather Karner chipped in 16 of her own.
Junior forward Heather Turner, who recorded nine points, led the Bulls. Junior guard Stephanie Bennet and freshman forward Meghan George added eight and seven points respectively. George also corralled seven rebounds in the contest to set career-highs in both categories.
After a five game road stretch to open the season, Hill-MacDonald brought her team back to Alumni Arena on Friday for its home opener against Holy Cross.
With the Bulls looking to bounce back after their latest defeat the team came out and played the Crusaders to a 14-14 tie early in the first half, before letting the game slip away. The Bulls went scoreless for over seven minutes and allowed Holy Cross to take a 35-21 lead into halftime on the back of a 21-3 run.
The teams played to a stalemate in the second half with each squad posting 34 points, the Bulls however were never able to close the gap and bring the game within reach.
The game was plagued by poor shooting from the Bulls, who went just 18 for 67 for the game. While their shooting let them down, Buffalo did win the turnover battle, giving the ball away 15 times to Holy Cross' 20.
When the final buzzer sounded, the score stood at 69-55 in favor of the Crusaders. Each team had three double-digit scorers. Holy Cross' junior guard Laura Aloisi and Buffalo sophomore guard Rachelle Matthys led all scorers with 18 points apiece. Matthy's performance was punctuated with four three pointers, which tied her career high.
Senior guard Belinda Gibb added 12 points of her own for the Bulls. Heather Turner posted her first double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
The Crusaders also received a pair of 12-point performances from senior guard Brittany Keil and her freshman counterpart Bethany O'Dell, while having a total of nine players find the net on the evening.
"Missed free throws, missed lay-ups, and turnovers have been a factor in all of our losses this year," Hill-MacDonald said.
The team will look to put these losses as they travel to Cleveland State on Tuesday night. The Bulls' next home match-up will be against local rival Niagara Purple Eagles on Dec. 2 at 5 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of SUNY
