A river of pink flooded the sea of blue at Alumni Arena on Saturday, as a season-high 1,025 fans attended the Buffalo women's basketball game. Pink shirts and ribbons were worn in support of breast cancer awareness and research. Head Coach Linda Hill-MacDonald and staff accompanied their pink outfits with a pair of sneakers, as this game was designated the UB's Coaches vs. Cancer game.
"It was great to see all that pink in the arena today," Hill-MacDonald said. "Having so many students from campus come to the game and cheer for us was real nice."
In Saturday's game, the Bulls faced Mid-American Conference rival the Toledo Rockets (10-11, 3-6 MAC). The Bulls (12-10, 5-4 MAC) came into this game 1-12 all-time versus Toledo, the last two losses being in the first round of the MAC tournament. With that in the back of their minds, the Bulls went out and throttled Toledo by a final score of 60-45.
"We owed them big time," said senior guard Stephanie Bennett. "Since I've been here we haven't beaten them, and each year they've beaten us in the tournament."
On top of being thrilled to have beaten Toledo, Bennett also shared a special moment with those who attended the game. Before tip-off, Bennett was presented a game ball, marking her 1,000th career point as a Bull. Bennett surpassed the 1,000-point mark last week with a 24-point performance against Ball State. She is the 17th player in school history to record 1,000 career points, and she is 15th on the all-time scoring list.
"It was a great honor," Bennett said. "It's something great to accomplish, but I couldn't have done it without my teammates, and it was a lot of fun."
The Bulls started the game with a pull-up jumper by sophomore guard Ashley Zuber, and a pair of three-pointers, one by Bennett, and the other by freshmen forward Jessica Fortman. The Rockets responded by going on an eight point run of their own, putting them ahead of the Bulls 14-8 with 12:43 left in the first half.
Buffalo countered Toledo's offense by turning up the heat on defense. The Bulls executed a variety of pressure defenses, which kept Toledo on their heels and allowed the Bulls to go on a 10-2 run. The Rockets managed to get the score tied at 29 late in the first half, but the Buffalo went on another 9-2 run, ending the half with a score of 38-31.
"I don't think Toledo has seen a whole lot of pressing defenses this season," Hill-MacDonald said. "I don't think they liked the press. It slowed them down, and it took them out of their rhythm."
With the game still close, the Bulls decided to step up their defense another notch. They were able to hold Toledo to only 14-second half points, shooting 14.8 percent from the field.
By the 11:18 mark of the game, the Bulls were already leading by 12, and showed no signs of letting up. Even when the Rockets cut the lead down to eight points, Buffalo made an 8-0 run of their own, ultimately winning the game by 15 points.
"I think our defense got in their head a little," said senior forward Heather Turner, "We had a game plan, we came out, we stuck to it, and we executed it well."
Bennett and junior forward Jamie Schiebner led the Bulls with a team-high 14 points. Schiebner added nine rebounds while Bennett had a team-high of five assists. Senior forward Heather Turner pitched in with 12 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman Jessica Fortman added 10 points and seven boards.
Senior guard Olivia Terry led the Rockets with 14 points of her own, followed by sophomore forward Lisa Johnson with 12 points and seven rebounds.
The Bulls look to win their third game in a row next week, as they hit the road to play MAC opponent, Western Michigan on Wednesday Feb. 13 at 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
