With only two games left in the regular season, the pressure is on the women's basketball team to play their best basketball. The Bulls took care of business on Wednesday night when they defeated the Akron Zips at Alumni Arena, evening their conference record to 7-7 and improving their overall record to 14-13.
Akron (7-21, 2-12 Mid-American Conference), who is currently in last place in the MAC East division, fell to Buffalo by a score of 68-54. The Bulls won consecutive conference games for the third time this season.
"You have to give credit to Buffalo," said Akron head coach Jodi Kest. "They did a great job executing their offense and did what they had to, to win."
Buffalo's stout defense started right from the tip-off when sophomore guard Ashley Zuber made a steal leading to two of Jessica Fortman's 14 points in the game. Akron forged ahead 11-10 with just under 13 minutes left in the half. Buffalo came right back with a basket from Fortman, giving the Bulls a 12-11 lead. This was the only time during the game that Buffalo trailed.
Buffalo continued to build their lead by as many as eight points, leading 22-14 with under five minutes left in the first half. However Akron battled back, scoring eight of the last nine points of the half to cut the lead to three at 25-22 after the first 20 minutes.
"I think the thing that was most pleasing to our staff tonight was the defensive effort," said Buffalo head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "I thought our players on the floor did a good job communicating to each other the changes that Akron was trying to make and reacting to those changes."
Buffalo started the second half quickly with two quick baskets from senior forward Heather Turner and junior forward Jamie Schiebner to make the score 29-22 just over with 18:56 left in the game. Akron attempted a come back, bringing the game as close as 38-32, but Buffalo went on a 9-1 run to put the game away with 10:31 left in the game. From there, Buffalo pushed their lead to as much as 17. Akron never got within eight points the rest of the game.
Four of Buffalo's five starters scored in double digits against the Zips, led by senior guard Stephanie Bennett, who made 50 percent of her six three-point attempts, on her way to 15 points, three rebounds, and four assists. Turner chipped in with 13 points and tied for the team lead with eight rebounds, while Fortman had 14 points and seven rebounds. Schiebner was the final Bull in double-figures, scoring 12 points and tying Turner for the team lead with eight rebounds.
"I think we were all really tuned into our game plan," Bennett said. "I think our confidence from our last game helped us get into it."
Buffalo made 47 percent of its shots from the game, shooting 50 percent from three-point land, with all six of its attempts coming from Bennett. Due to the Bulls strong defense, Akron was only able to make 29 percent of its shots, and only a quarter of its attempted three-pointers.
Buffalo will next take the court on Saturday March 1 in an important divisional game against Bowling Green. Tip off at Bowling Green will take place at 4 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
