The women's basketball team had no answer for the Ohio Bobcats' three-point shots on Wednesday as the Bobcats made it rain all night from beyond the arc. The Bobcats drained 13 of 18 three-pointers, making it very hard for the Bulls to stay in the game.
Buffalo's three-game win streak was snapped, falling 74-64 in front of their home fans at Alumni Arena.
"Most definitely we didn't get out to the shooters. We were ball-watching a little bit, not moving on the pass, waiting until the pass was almost over our head before we took our first step," said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "It took a while to play on the perimeter, certainly giving them a lot of time to look at those open threes. Seventy-two percent from three point range is pretty incredible."
The Bulls (9-7, 2-1 Mid-American Conference) had a slow first half, both offensively and defensively. The offense was held to a dismal 21 points in the first 20 minutes of play. Their low scoring first half could be attributed to the fact they only shot 30.4 percent from the field, and were 1 of 6 in three-point attempts.
Buffalo's struggles, however, did not lie solely on the offensive side of the ball. The Bulls transition defense had no answer for Ohio as the Bobcats shot 50 percent from the field, while making 8 of 11 three-point attempts. Ohio (8-8, 1-2 MAC) went into the locker room with a 23-point advantage, leading 44-21.
"Transition defense is difficult on a normal night. When they're hitting 72 percent, they're spreading the floor wide and deep with their shooters, it becomes a big challenge," Hill-MacDonald said. "It certainly challenged us tonight and we didn't rise to the challenge. When the first four or five threes went in, there should have been some recognition there, we need to get out of the paint and defend out on the perimeter in transition."
The Bulls came out for the second half with a bit of new life, cutting the Bobcats lead down to 14 around the 12-minute mark. Buffalo stepped up the offense, shooting 51.9 percent from the field, and going 3 of 7 from beyond the arc in the second half.
Senior guard Stephanie Bennett led Buffalo's charge, finishing the game with a team-high 19 points. However, her efforts were not enough to get Buffalo out of the hole they dug for themselves in the first half.
"When they started hitting those threes, it put a dagger in us a little bit and we didn't respond very well to it," Bennett said. "So in upcoming games, we have to know that if somebody makes a little run, we've got to put a stop to it. And if we're not hitting, it may be because we have to play defense. We have to get the stops."
While Buffalo's offense came alive in the second half, they still had no answer for the Bobcats' three-point show. Jennifer Bushby finished the game with 23 points, hitting 6 of 8 three-point shots, and going 7 of 11 from the field.
"I kept getting open looks and my teammates kept getting me the ball in the right spots. I was definitely feeling it tonight," Bushby said.
Ohio was very aggressive on the defensive side of the ball, swarming Buffalo players all night long. Buffalo's Heather Turner was smothered for most of the game by the Bobcats' defense. The senior forward was shut out in the first half and finished the game with five points and four rebounds. Junior forward Jamie Schiebner finished with 11 points for the Bulls.
"I thought (Ohio) played very well," Hill-MacDonald said. "They played well together, they played with a whole lot of confidence. They had an agenda coming in and they stuck to their game plan really well. They were very impressive in the first half."
The Bulls' next game will be at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Alumni Arena, when they host MAC rival Bowling Green.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
