Sometimes a team wins big and sometimes it gets blown out. Sometimes they can squeak out a close win, and sometimes they lose in heartbreak fashion. The Buffalo women's basketball team did all of the above over a rollercoaster winter break schedule.
The team finished off its non-conference play for the season with match-ups against the Southeast Missouri State University Redhawks and the Bucknell Bison. It then opened Mid-American Conference play with contests against the Miami RedHawks, the Bowling Green Falcons, the Ohio Bobcats and the Akron Zips.
Alumni Arena played host to the Dec. 22 contest between the Bulls and the Redhawks. Southeast Missouri started out with an early lead that it never relinquished, and although the Bulls pulled to a 10-10 tie, they could never pull ahead.
Riding several large margin scoring runs and the three-point shooting of guard Tarina Nixon, the visiting Redhawks pulled out a 61-50 win. Nixon piled up five three-pointers to give Southeast Missouri the edge after the first half. National rebound leader Lachelle Lyles pulled in 11 rebounds for the Redhawks en route to their victory.
Junior forward Heather Turner powered the Bulls with her game-high 19 points and junior guard Stephanie Bennet chipped in 10 of her own.
"I thought we shot the ball horrible from the perimeter tonight and that was huge," said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald in a press release.
The Bulls traveled to Lewisburg, Penn. for their Dec. 29 date with the Bison and delivered their strongest win over the winter hiatus. With four players in double figures the Bulls took control of the game early and finished strong, recording a 69-51 win.
Sophomore guard Rachelle Matthys paced the Bulls with 15 points while Bennett added 13. Sophomore forward Jamie Schiebner recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Belinda Gibb also notched 10 points in the victory.
The Bulls opened conference play on Jan. 3 against the RedHawks of Miami and for the first half looked to be in control of the game. After taking a 6-point lead to the locker room at half time, Buffalo came out flat in the second half and was outscored 42-23 to give Miami the 72-59 victory.
Turnovers plagued the Bulls as they handed the ball over 26 times in the loss. Heather Turner was a bright spot for a Bulls' team that let their lead dwindle to a 13-point loss. She recorded a double-double with 24 points and 14 rebounds.
The Redhawks were led by Amanda Jackson and Courtney Reed with 21 and 16 points respectively.
The Jan. 6 game against the nationally ranked Falcons was the Bulls' weakest showing of the break, losing in a 75-42 blowout.
The 19th-ranked Falcons reared their talons and won their 27th straight MAC conference game. The Falcons shot an impressive 54.5 percent compared to the Bulls' 31.9 mark.
Turner, who along with Gibb posted 11 points in the lopsided contest, again led the Bulls. Leading the Falcons were Ali Mann with 24 points and Megan Thornburn who contributed 21.
Buffalo dropped a nail-biter to the Ohio Bobcats in Athens, Ohio during their Jan. 10 meeting. The Bulls pulled themselves back from multiple double-digit deficits only to come up just short as a last second shot by Bennett didn't fall and the Bobcats escaped with 69-66 win.
Bennett led the Bulls with a career-high 20 points in the loss. Ohio was led by a game-high contribution of 21 from Lauren Kohn.
Turnovers again plagued the Bulls and have proven to be their Achilles' heel this season.
"The game wasn't lost with that last shot," Hill-MacDonald said in a press release. "It was lost when we turned the ball over 11 times in the first half."
The Bulls returned home to face the Zips for their Jan. 13 meeting. Buffalo rode the efforts of five players in double figure scoring to a 64-58 win, giving them their first conference win of the season.
"It feels great to get our first conference victory," Hill-MacDonald said in a press release. "We truly anticipated having one before now, but we'll take it."
Freshman forward Kourtney Brown led the Bulls with a career-high 17 points and was joined by teammates Bennett, Schiebner, Gibb and Turner in reaching double-digit points totals. Schiebner also added 10 rebounds to get her third double-double of the break.
With the spring semester starting up Alumni Arena looks to be filled with more supporters as the Bulls will host the Kent Sate Golden Flashes on Wednesday night. Tip off is at 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
