Buffalo fans had no idea what to expect of the 2011-12 women's basketball team heading into the squad's first two games. Following those games, people still don't know what to expect.
Two different Bulls teams showed up on Friday and Monday.
Buffalo (1-1) started its campaign with a 65-54 win against Niagara (0-1). That win was followed up by an embarrassing loss to Duquesne (2-0). Behind a 30-0 run to close the opening half, the Dukes put the Bulls away without so much as a challenge, winning 90-46.
Turnover problems plagued the Bulls throughout the two-game road trip. Buffalo committed 53 turnovers against its opponents' 29.
The Bulls were able to overcome the 18-16 turnover deficit to Niagara because of the strong play of senior guard Brittany Hedderson. The senior recorded the first double-double of her career, scoring 19 points and snagging 10 rebounds.
Hedderson added five assists and a steal. Her performance led to her being named the Mid-American Conference East Player of the Week.
Head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald praised Hedderson.
"I think Brittany Hedderson on the court certainly has stepped in and taken over our leadership role from a playing standpoint," Hill-MacDonald said. "She has the ability to take over games and at times during our game [on Friday] she did that for us."
But Hedderson's ability would not save the squad against Duquesne, as the Dukes dismantled the Bulls.
The Bulls offense was sloppy all night, with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 6-35. The Dukes also attempted a remarkable 33 more shots than the Bulls. Those 35 turnovers were more than Buffalo has had in any game in over a decade.
"Turnovers are the story of the game," Hill-MacDonald said. "We were just very, very careless with the ball tonight."
The contest really got out of hand in the final 11 minutes of the first half. The game was tied at 10 with 11:32 remaining before the break, but that's when the game turned dramatically in the Dukes' favor. The Bulls would fail to get on the scoreboard again until after halftime, and Duquesne opened up a 40-10 lead heading into intermission.
"We kept turning the ball over," Hill-MacDonald said. "I think we had 23 first half turnovers, and they had 39 points off of our turnovers. We didn't shoot the ball all that well and we didn't go to the boards all that well."
That trend carried over to the second half as well, as Buffalo would never cut the lead to any less than 30 for the remainder of the game. A lot of that had to do with the Bulls' struggles to put the ball in the hoop, as they shot a combined 29.4 percent from the field on the evening.
Duquesne played lock-down defense, effectively shutting down Hedderson, Buffalo's most prolific scorer. She was held to eight points on 3-of-12 shooting.
"[Duquesne] got very physical with [Hedderson] off the ball," Hill-MacDonald said. "She didn't have as many open looks as she did in the [previous game], and they did take her out of it."
With Hedderson held in check, the Bulls' scoring was severely limited. Just one player, senior guard Ephesia Holmes, was able to reach double figures.
Thankfully for the Bulls, they now get to return to the friendly confines of Alumni Arena. With their two-game road trip over, they'll take on the Bucknell Bisons (1-1) of the Patriot league on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
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