In the first half of the women's basketball game on Saturday against Canisius, it seemed as if the Bulls were suffering from one of the most common Thanksgiving side effects: tryptophan-induced sleep.
After defeating Detroit Mercy 66-50 on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, the Bulls were a different team in the first half against the Golden Griffs, falling behind by as much as 19. Canisius used the three-point shot to their advantage, making an astounding 63 percent of their shots from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes.
"We knew coming in that they were a great three-point shooting team. They are a guard-oriented team, and they set screens everywhere for their shooters. They get their shooters open," said Bulls senior guard Stephanie Bennett.
Buffalo shot only 20 percent from three-point land, and 31 percent overall in the first half. Buffalo's struggles from the field were apparent when the Bulls went over five minutes without scoring a basket, allowing the Golden Griffs to go on a 14-0 run and push their lead to a 19 points, 32-13.
Acting head coach Cara Pearson tried everything to get her team back on track, including sitting her three senior starters, Bennett, forward Heather Turner, and forward Barbora Homolova, in favor of a quicker lineup. The problem with this lineup was that the tallest player on the court for the Bulls was generously listed at 6'0".
"We didn't have the match-ups; they were smaller, but what that group gives us is a defensive intensity and an emotional spark," Pearson said.
After a little over two minutes of this experimental lineup, the three seniors checked back into the game and paced Buffalo to an 11-1 run to move Buffalo to within nine at 33-24. The two teams went into halftime with Canisius leading 40-28.
In the second half the Bulls played like a different team, holding Canisius to only two three-pointers and bringing the once-19 point lead down to one, after a three-pointer from sophomore guard Ashley Zuber brought the game to 49-48 with over nine minutes left in the game.
"I think that our defense created our offense," Bennett said. "I think that once we started getting stops it gave us that confidence to (go) 'let's score on this' let's go ahead and do what we know how to do best."
After allowing the Bulls to get within one, the Griffs showed shut down the Buffalo offense, going on a 10-2 run to push the lead back up to nine. Canisius was led in the game by Brittaney Russell who had 15 points, four assists and seven steals. Three of her steals came on in-bounds passes immediately following Canisius baskets.
After Canisius recovered from Buffalo's attack and built their lead back up to nine, they were able to coast to the win with Buffalo never getting closer than five, and won 70-62.
Despite the loss, the Bulls saw good games from several players. Zuber finished 4-7 from behind the arc, scoring 14 points to go along with five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Freshman forward Jessica Fortman added toughness inside with two offensive rebounds that resulted in points. Fortman finished the game with six points and four rebounds. Bennett had a team-leading 16 points, and Turner finished with a team-high 11 rebounds.
This loss was the second of the season for the Bulls and was their first without regular head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald, who was not on the sideline due to an injured back.
In the Bulls' first game over Thanksgiving break, they did not have the same trouble that they would later have with the Golden Griffs, dispatching of Detroit Mercy by a score of 66-50.
Turner led the way for the Bulls with 15 points and nine rebounds. However, she was not alone, as Buffalo had five players score in double-figures. Junior forward Jamie Schiebner and Bennett each chipped in with 10 points, while Zuber and junior forward Dortae Freeman each scored 11. The balanced attack was made possible because eight Bulls played at least 15 minutes in the game.
After taking a 14-12 lead with over 11 minutes left in the first half the Bulls didn't trail again. Detroit Mercy did not go down with a fight. With 17 minutes left in the game, Sandi Brown brought her team to within one, with a three-pointer, making the score 30-29. However, Buffalo was able to pull away late and won by the comfortable margin of 16.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
