When the Bulls last played Ohio on Jan. 16, the Bobcats shot 72 percent from three-point range and cruised to a 74-64 victory. On Saturday, the women's basketball team traveled to Ohio and held the Bobcat shooters to just 21 percent from beyond the arc. Buffalo also broke its three-game losing streak as they held on to win, 67-63.
Buffalo (13-13, 6-7 Mid-American Conference) forced 26 turnovers and scored 29 points off of those opportunities. They also shot 58 percent from the floor.
Jennifer Bushby, who scored 23 points for the Bobcats (15-10, 8-4 MAC) in the teams' first meeting of the season, scored a team-high18 points in 32 minutes in Saturday's rematch. She was also responsible for six of Ohio's turnovers and only hit two threes. She was just one of three Bobcats to score from three-point range.
Freshman forward Jessica Fortman started the scoring for the Bulls after getting fouled on the team's first offensive possession. She drained a lay-up and nailed the free throw to give Buffalo a 3-0 lead.
At the 9:09 mark of the first half, junior guard Dortae Freeman, whose 11 points tied a career-high, hit a three-pointer to break a 16-16 deadlock. The Bulls would not trail the rest of the game, heading into the half with a 28-24 lead.
"I thought we got out and defended the threes much, much better," said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "We had a little bit of a different defensive strategy and I think that was helpful in getting out to the shooters a little bit quicker. Our players were very determined out there and they weren't going to let it go."
Buffalo opened the second half by scoring back-to-back threes, one from senior guard Stephanie Bennett and the other from Fortman following a steal by junior forward Jamie Schiebner.
Bennett led the Bulls with 18 points and went four for eight from three-point territory. She also added seven rebounds and five assists, both game-highs. Bennett played all 40 minutes of the game.
"At the end of the game she was just so tired," Hill-Macdonald said of Bennett. "I thought towards the end of the second half she had really good wide open look at another three and her legs just weren't there for her...for the most part, I thought Steph played a great game both offensively and defensively."
Ohio would get within five points with 17:36 left in the second half before senior forward Heather Turner took control of the game. Turner would score eight consecutive points to give the Bulls a 15 point lead midway through the second half, their biggest lead of the night. The Bobcats slowly chipped away at that lead again, going on a 10-0 run to cut the lead down to five with 10:14 left. With just 25 seconds remaining, a three-pointer from Bushby put the Bobcats within three points.
"They really did not have an answer for Heather. They went with a big girl and she wasn't able to get Heather stopped. Then they went with some of their quicker, more athletic, less experienced players," Hill-MacDonald said. "I think that was the difference. And Heather was really able to score on those players at will. When we were able to get the ball into her she delivered."
Turner finished with 15 points and five rebounds, 13 of those points coming in the second half. It was the fifth consecutive game in which Turner and Bennett each finished with at least 10 points.
"Maybe it shouldn't have been close. We did push out to a 15-point lead at one point and we let that slip away," Hill-MacDonald said. "We went cold offensively and they got a little bit hot. They went on an offensive run. But if it's going to be close, it's good to know that our players are doing the right things to keep that team at bay. And they did it well today."
The Bulls return home on Wednesday for a match against Akron (7-20, 2-11 MAC). Tip off from Alumni Arena is set for 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
