After two straight losses to Big Four teams to start the season, the women's basketball team went on the road looking to end their winless streak.
A strong defensive effort got the Bulls their first win on the season.
Buffalo (1-2) knocked off Youngstown State (0-2) 66-42 Wednesday night in a game in which they never trailed.
???The game kicked off with the Bulls scoring early, something that hadn't been able to accomplish their first two games. After the Bulls scored the first five points of the game, sophomore Jessica Fortman made a jumper at the 16:29 mark in the first half to extend the Bulls lead to 9-2.
???With the Bulls up 15-11, sophomore Kourtney Brown found her shot and scored the next 13 points. This lead to a 13-2 run, where the score tipped heavily in favor of the Bulls, who took a 28-13 lead.
???The Bulls ended the half on a high note. Freshman Beth Christensen scored the final five points of the half. This left the Bulls with a substantial lead of 18 points in a 33-15 game.
???The Penguins came out flying in the second half. They were able to shorten the Bulls' lead to seven with 11:22 left.
However, this was not enough to save them as the Bulls kept the ball out of their Penguins' hands. The Bulls forced 32 Youngstown State turnovers in the game.
???With the score at 42-35, the Bulls scored another 17 unanswered points to extend their lead to 59-35. Freshman Brittany Hedderson contributed four points as well four assists during the run. Four other players scored during the run to make it a true team effort.
???During the game, all 11 players that dressed played at least six minutes each. Of the 11 Bulls that played, 10 scored.
???Brown led the team with a career-high 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting. She was perfect from the free throw line, shooting 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.
???Other players contributed to the victory. Christensen had a career-high 13 rebounds, including nine on the defensive end, to go along with her seven points. Junior Dayna Smith, in only seven minutes of play, had five points and three steals. Hedderson added six in both points and assists. Fortman had eight points to go along with six rebounds.
???The pressure that the Bulls forced on the Penguins showed in the stat sheet as Youngstown State shot only 29.4 percent from the floor. This was a far cry from the Bulls, who shot 49.1 percent. The Penguins also did not help themselves by missing all 13 shots from behind the arc.
???The Bulls will be hosting Delaware at Alumni Arena this Saturday afternoon. Tip-off at 1:00 p.m.
