With the Mid-American Conference Tournament just a few days away, the women's basketball team traveled to Kent State for its final tune-up before tournament play begins.
The Bulls, who will be the fifth seed in the East of the upcoming tournament, fell to the Golden Flashes in their final regular season game.
"We had a hard time reading the defense and taking advantage of the overplay going back door," said Bulls head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "We forced a lot of passes into the overplay position where (Kent State) could get their hands on it getting the steals. And they just beat us on the offensive glass. We gave up too many offensive rebounds."
The only time the Bulls (10-18, 5-11 MAC) held a lead was at 2-0, and they fell down by as many as 18 at one point. Finding themselves down 33-22 at halftime, the Bulls went on an 8-3 run to start the second half and closed the gap to 36-30 with just over 10 minutes to play. However, Buffalo went cold after this spurt and couldn't close the gap allowing the Golden Flashes (15-12. 11-5 MAC) to pull away and finish strong, outscoring Buffalo 26-17 down the stretch.
"We just couldn't seem to put a shot down when we needed to during that stretch," Hill-MacDonald said.
Freshman forward Kourtney Brown was the lone Bull to score in double figures. Brown dominated in more than one category as she had a team-high 16 points, tied for the game high with eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals in just 25 minutes of play.
"That is the good news that (Brown) is only a freshmen and she has three years to develop and get physically strong," Hill-MacDonald said. "She is going to be very hard to stop and I am very excited at what she will bring to this program."
Brown got help, but it proved not to be enough for the Bulls. Junior guard Stephanie Bennett pitched in with her nine points and three assists. Sophomore guard Jamie Schiebner dropped eight points along with six boards. Junior forward Heather Turner was quiet on the night with only six points, but did pull down eight rebounds in 26 minutes of play.
Having felt under the weather most of the day hindered Turner's play. She also suffered a minor asthma problem mid-way through the second half, where she was substituted out of the game and did not return.
"She just had a little asthma episode and she is doing fine. Breathing normal and her heart rate is down," Hill-MacDonald said. "It was a tough time to lose her but her health is more important than this basketball game."
Kent State had three women score in double figures, led by Kristin Peoples who dropped a game-high 18 points and dished out four assists. La'Kia Stewart and Tiffany LaFleur each netted 12 for the Golden Flashes. With the win, Kent State will head to Cleveland as the No. 2 seed earning itself a first round bye. The Golden Flashes have never lost to the Bulls in 19 meetings.
The Bulls numbers make it seem as if they just didn't come to play. Shooting a sluggish 35 percent from the field and only 27 percent from behind the arc, Buffalo never
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
