Not much was expected from the women's basketball team during the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The team struggled all-season long and went into the tournament as the No. 6 seed from the Mid-American Conference East Division.
Two upset victories later, the Bulls had startled fans and shocked onlookers at Quicken Loans Arena. They became the Cinderella story of the MAC Tournament.
Buffalo (8-24, 2-14 MAC) started their improbable run with a first round, 57-52 victory over Northern Illinois (15-15, 10-6 MAC). They continued their overachieving play in the quarterfinal round against Kent State (19-10, 8-8 MAC). Despite losing to Kent State by 18 and 19 points in their two regular season contests, the Bulls stunned the Golden Flashes with a 66-54 victory.
The Bulls run would end against a Ball State team that would go on to win the MAC Championship. Buffalo suffered from tired legs as the Cardinals (25-8, 14-2 MAC) built an early lead and held on for a 68-54 victory.
Despite the semifinal loss, the tournament was a huge success for the Bulls.
Against Northern Illinois, the Bulls were on the losing end for most of the contest. A 13-3 run that took place over the final seven minutes of play helped push the Bulls over the hump and into the next round.
With the game tied at 50 with 2:49 left, the Bulls looked to capture the lead. Junior forward Jessica Fortman put in a layup to give the Bulls a lead they would never lose.
Sophomore Kourtney Brown led the Bulls with a game-high 17 points, 13 rebounds and a career high seven blocks. Fortman contributed 16 points and eight rebounds in the winning effort.
On Friday, Buffalo fell behind early to the Golden Flashes. Kent State built up a 7-0 lead a looked to run away with the contest.
This did not happen. Buffalo prevented Kent State from grabbing a double-digit lead. Down 24-18 with 3:21 left, the Bulls found their offensive groove. They finished the half with a 7-2 run, capped by a jumper from senior guard Dortae Freeman with seven seconds left to make the score 26-25 at halftime.
The scoring surge to end the first half gave the Bulls all the momentum they needed. A jumper by sophomore forward Kourtney Brown gave the Bulls their first lead 29-28 early in the second half.
It was the last lead chance of the game. Buffalo's lead swelled up to as much as 11 points and the Golden Flashes were unable to cut their deficit to less than four points.
"This team has had it in them all season long. We played close in almost every single game that we've played," head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald said. "Now is the point in the season where I'm just happy it's coming together now... This is a huge win for the team today."
Buffalo's frontcourt players once again led the Bulls to a surprising victory. Sophomore forward Kourtney Brown led the Bulls with 16 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and five steals. Sophomore forward Jessica Fortman chipped in a game high 20 points and eight rebounds.
Buffalo's bigs did not just succeed on the offensive end. Their pressure defense on Flashes' center Anna Kowalska, a First Team All-MAC selection, stifled the senior. She scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds but only convert on two of her nine. free throws.
Buffalo's magic ran out on Saturday.
A three-point play by senior forward Jamie Schiebner put the Bulls down 7-5 with 17:17 left in the half to give the Bulls some hope against Ball State, the No. 1 seed from the West Division.
After that point, Ball State stifled the Bulls. They went on a 16-0 run that covered eight minutes of play to make the score 23-5. It only got worse for the Bulls in the half as they continued to miss shots and went into the locker-room down 34-12.
"We had a little bit of a sluggish start and missed a lot of easy shots in the beginning," Brown said.
The second half did not provide instant success for the Bulls. Ball State gained their largest lead of the game when the Cardinals' Amber Clark nailed a free throw to make the score 41-16 with 16:49 left.
Buffalo refused to keep the deficit above 20 points. They were able to outscore the Cardinals 38-27 during the rest of the game to make the score respectable.
The Bulls' exit from the MAC Tournament did not ruin what was an impressive showing. Nobody in Cleveland expected the Bulls to last past Thursday's game against Northern Illinois.
But the surprising performances impressed people around the league. The Bulls, who lose only two seniors off of this year's team, showed they could play with everyone in the MAC and look to build off of this MAC Tournament success.
"They did a great job beating Northern Illinois and then Kent," said Ball State guard Porchia Green. "... I'm proud of Buffalo. Overall, they just worked hard."
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
