With a two-game winning streak on the line, the women's basketball team squared off against first-place Bowling Green. Unfortunately, Buffalo left disappointed as the Falcons proved their supremacy in the Mid-American Conference as they crushed the Bulls, 74-47.
Head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald is looking to leave the embarrassing game behind and direct her team's focus on their final regular game of the season against Kent State.
"There isn't a whole lot to take from this game, we got beat by 27 points," McDonald said. "We didn't rebound well. We didn't defend well. We didn't stop their point guard and we didn't run our offense officially. What we have to take from this game is to improve those things to be successful and we just didn't do them well tonight."
The Bulls (14-14, 7-8 MAC) were unable to keep up with the fast pace and momentum the Falcons (23-6, 12-3 MAC) brought onto the court. The Falcons quickly attacked the Bulls, scoring the first four points of the game until senior forward Heather Turner and junior forward Jamie Schiebner tied the score, 4-4.
As the game progressed, the Bulls could not keep up with their opponents as the Falcons pulled off a 17-0 run to lead the Bulls 21-4. The Bulls would not catch up to Bowling Green's score again in the game.
Freshman forward Jessica Fortman aided the Bulls attempt to catch up, responding with a jumper that would add to a Buffalo 11-2 run. However, Bowling Green responded with a run of their own, outscoring the Bulls 13-1 in the last 4:18 minutes to take a 40-18 lead at halftime.
Senior guard Stephanie Bennett started the second half off with a jumper, closing the gap at 20 points. Bennett also hit a three-pointer with 15:38 left, positioning the Bulls to make a run to make it a game once again. This was the closet the Bulls came to catching up to the Falcons for the remainder of the game.
With 1:35 left in the game, the Falcons led the Bulls by 29 points, the largest lead in the game. In the last second of the game, Bennett scored a lay-up, bringing the final score to 74-47. Buffalo came out stronger in the second half, scoring 11 more points than they did in the first half, while Bowling Green scored six points less than the first half.
In the paint, the Bulls scored 26 points, which was overshadowed by the Falcons 42 points scored. Bennett scored 18 points in the match, while Turner had 10 points and eight rebounds. Schiebner assisted with seven points and seven rebounds, while Fortman scored four points and had four rebounds.
Guards Kate Atcher and Whitney Taylor led the Falcons. Atcher dominated the game, scoring 24 points and adding seven assists in her team's victory, while Taylor added six points to the score. Falcon freshman Lauren Prochaska added to the Bowling Green victory, scoring 12 points, while sophomore Tara Breske added 11 points and six rebounds.
"Our total focus will be preparing for the Kent State game," Hill-MacDonald said. "We want to get ready for what they run offensively, get our defense ready to shut down the way they score out of their offense and to sharpen up our own offensive game."
The Bulls have that one more game left on the schedule before heading to Cleveland, OH for the MAC Tournament. On Wednesday, March 5, the Golden Flashes (8-19, 5-10 MAC) will come to Alumni Arena to fight for positioning in the MAC tournament. Tip -off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
