In a game where the baskets weren't falling for either team, the women's basketball team was able to lock down on defense and get a win on the road.
The Bulls (4-3) downed the Niagara Purple Eagles (2-5) by a score of 61-42 Saturday evening in the Gallagher Center, snapping a two-game losing streak. Junior forward Jamie Schiebner posted career-highs with 26 points and four blocks. Schiebner also had a game-high 16 rebounds, one short of her career-high.
"I'm just tired of losing. Our team is," Schiebner said. "We don't want to get on a losing streak like last year. We're turning things around. We want to win, and that's what it was about tonight: a win."
At this point last season, the Bulls were 2-5 and weren't able to get their record above .500 for the rest of the season. Last January, the Bulls suffered through a month when they went just 1-7, including a 1-3 mark at home. Even after losing consecutive games, the Bulls seem determined to not let this season slip away early.
"I think that we just knew that in the past couple games we came out a little slow so we were just going to be determined," said senior guard Stephanie Bennett. "It's been our focus in practice, come out hard, go at them, dictate what they're going to do, not let them dictate what we're going to do."
The Purple Eagles came out of the gate strong, as senior guard Michelle Manfredi scored the game's first basket off the opening tip-off. But Buffalo responded, scoring the next 13 points of the contest, getting five points each from Bennett and sophomore guard Ashley Zuber. The Eagles did not score again until the 10:30 mark, courtesy of a jumper by Manfredi.
As the half came to an end, the Bulls held a 22-12 edge but were held to shooting 26.7 percent from the floor. The Eagles scored just five baskets going into the half and missed on all ten of their attempts from three-point territory. Neither team was able to get a basket in the final two minutes of play.
"It's always nice to be up when you're struggling that much offensively," said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "I think we are turning some minds and turning some of our players' minds to believing in the importance of the defensive end of the floor."
The Bulls opened the second half by opening up their largest lead of the game. Senior forward Heather Turner scored on a lay-in and was fouled as she let the shot go. Her free throw put Buffalo up by 21, five minutes into the second half.
Niagara slowly chipped away at the 38-17 lead, sparked on the next possession by a three-pointer from sophomore Jennifer McNamee. That basket helped jump-start a Niagara run that cut the Bulls' lead to nine with 3:04 to play. Buffalo went on to score 14 of the game's final 18 points to seal the victory.
"We were confident in ourselves and in our defense that we could get a stop when we needed to get a stop, and I think that was the big factor down the stretch," Bennett said.
It was Hill-MacDonald's first game back on the bench for the Bulls after missing the last two games with a back injury.
"I'm glad to get out of here with a win," Hill-MacDonald said. "They made a run in the second half, a strong run in the second half. Fortunately, we were able to create our own run to counter their run. But we were up by 20. I don't know if we relaxed, if we lost focus but I thought Niagara did a great job of putting themselves back in the game."
Manfredi finished with nine points and 14 rebounds for Niagara, while Erika Harris was the team's leading scorer with 14 points.
Turner fouled out with four minutes remaining in the second half, narrowly missing out on second double-double of the season. She finished with 15 points and nine rebounds.
Bennett was the third Bull to finish in double-digit scoring, with 13 points in 29 minutes of action. Zuber led the Bulls with five assists.
Buffalo next takes on Albany (1-7) with tip-off from the state capital set for 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
