The game was going its way, and the women's basketball team looked like it was going to put a notch in the win column, the first win in conference play this season.
Senior guard Brittany Hedderson was finally getting some help on the offensive end, and the Bulls (5-14, 0-5 Mid-American Conference) held the lead for much of the game. However, Buffalo ran out of steam and fell to Kent State (3-12, 2-2 MAC), 85-73 in a high-scoring battle Thursday night at the MAC Center.
The Bulls had trouble stopping the Golden Flashes' offense. Only five players scored for Kent State but it was all the team needed.
A pair of 20-point scorers led the home team. Trisha Krewson had 26 points, which tied a game-high, and Diamon Beckford followed her with 23. Tamzin Barroilhet's 19 and Jamie Hutcheson's 13 rounded out the big four scorers for the Flashes.
Kent State was able to get a number of those points from the charity stripe. They went 12-of-19 from the line, all of them coming in the second half, which played a big role in Buffalo relinquishing its 41-38 halftime lead.
"I thought we let them get to the foul line too much," said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "They shot excellent from the foul line and that hurt us. We also gave up too many back-door cuts, which is something we discussed pre-game and at halftime, and their ability to cut really hurt us."
Kent State did more than just use back-cuts to get to the rack, the Golden Flashes showed off their three-point prowess, making 63 percent of their shots from behind the arc.
To add to all the points the Bulls' defenders were surrendering, they also turned the ball over 21 times.
"Most of those turnovers were unforced," Hill-MacDonald said. "It wasn't anything spectacular that Kent was doing."
With the aid of a dismal 47 percent from the line, Buffalo struggled to score down the stretch, which was all that Kent State needed to pull away.
The Bulls' guards weren't to blame for the loss. Hedderson had her fifth straight game with more than 20 points, tallying 26 on the night, but it took her 23 shot attempts to hit that mark. She also had some of her teammates step up to assist her, something that hasn't been the case for much of the season.
Senior guard Teresa Semalulu came into the contest averaging just 3.8 points per game, but chipped in a career-high 14 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, and four steals to fill out the stat sheet.
"[Semalulu] was able to get to the rim, particularly off the bounce and she had been struggling the past few games to finish at the rim," Hill-MacDonald said. "She can beat anyone off the bounce when she takes it hard. So it was good to see her put those layups down."
Semalulu's co-captain, junior guard Nicki Hopkins added nine first half points on 3-of-3 from behind the arc, but like the rest of the team struggled to put points up in the second half. She missed the only second half attempt she took. Sophomore guard Margeaux Gupilan chipped in nine points as well.
Buffalo has now played every team in its division once, failing to record a victory in any of those contests.
The Bulls certainly hope the MAC West is kinder to them than the East has been, as the crossover games are set to begin. That will start this Sunday, and the Bulls will stay on the road. The squad will head to Northern Illinois(7-10, 1-4 MAC) to take on the Huskies. Tipoff for that game is scheduled for 7 p.m.
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