Wednesday night was the last time that one of the most prolific duos in Buffalo history, seniors Heather Turner and Stephanie Bennett, would take to the Alumni Arena court as members of the women's basketball team.
Turner made sure that the five seniors on the team would not walk away with a loss, leading the Bulls to a 54-44 victory. Turner scored 17 points and pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds against Kent State in the Bulls' final game before the Mid-American Conference tournament.
This was the first time in school history that Buffalo swept its season series with the Golden Flashes. Earlier in the year the Bulls (15-14, 8-8 MAC) became the first Buffalo team, men's and women's, to defeat Kent State on the road. Despite it being her final home game, Bennett was thinking more about the win, and what it meant going into the MAC tournament.
"I really didn't feel anything different because I don't feel like it's the end of our season, so I had no feeling. It was just like any other game, 'OK, we got a W, it's time to move on to focus on the tournament,'" Bennett said.
To begin the game, Buffalo started all five of its seniors, with Barbora Homolova, Flynn Pyykkonen and Diana Orazco Gollaz starting alongside Turner and Bennett. Turner carried the load, scoring Buffalo's first nine points, and bringing down five rebounds before the five-minute mark of the game. Despite shooting only 29 percent from the field in the first half, the Golden Flashes (8-20, 5-11 MAC) were able to keep the game relatively close, and Buffalo went into halftime with only a 23-19 lead.
The Bulls began to pull away from Kent State with an 8-2 run midway through the second half. During the three-minute stretch, freshman forward Tierra Jones came off the bench to lead Buffalo. She recorded four points, three steals, two rebounds, and one assist during that period.
"I just thought that we needed some energy. The game kind of got real mellow," Jones said. "I like bringing energy for our team, I think it helps us out a lot and I was just trying to find ways to get us going...anyway I can do that I just try to help out that way."
With 12 minutes left in the game, Buffalo built up its lead to 39-24. Yet the Golden Flashes would not go away easily. With seven minutes left in the game, Buffalo held a 45-35 advantage, but they would not score again until there was 2:28 left on the clock. The Golden Flashes were eventually able to come within five, bringing the score to 47-42. This would be as close as the Flashes got; Buffalo stifled the Kent State offense to finish the game with a 50-44 victory.
Buffalo head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald was proud of her team for the way they stayed focused during Kent State's rally and not losing control of the game.
"Basketball is a game of runs. One team will make a run. The other team will make a run. The team that is successful at stopping the run is the team that generally comes out on top," Hill-MacDonald said. "Yes, they went on a run, but I thought we successfully stopped that run...our players have the confidence now."
Kent State's abysmal shooting helped Buffalo capture the victory. The Golden Flashes shot 46 percent from the free-throw line, missing several key attempts down the stretch. They also shot a mere 33 percent from the field, severely hampering their comeback attempt late in the game.
Turner produced her fourth double-double of the year, while Bennett had eight points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Coming off the bench, Jones pitched in eight points, three rebounds, and three steals.
With the victory, Turner, Bennett and the rest of the senior class accomplished something they have not done in three years: finish the season with a record above .500. Turner gave credit to Hill-Macdonald and the coaching staff for turning the program around.
"That's always been the goal; you always want to come out in the season with wins. I think it's a great thing, a great accomplishment for our team, and a lot of respect to our coaches for that...they came in here and turned around a program that when they first came in was struggling," Turner said.
Buffalo will look to build off this victory heading into the MAC tournament. The Bulls' first opponent will be Toledo, who Buffalo defeated earlier in the season at home. Tip-off is scheduled for 12 p.m. on Monday at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
