The score of this game might make it seem like a one-sided affair, but it was quite the opposite.
The Bulls (15-10, 8-6 Mid-American Conference) lost to Bowling Green (23-3, 13-1 MAC), 73-63, on Saturday at Alumni Arena. The Falcons are the top team in the MAC and are considered a top-40 team based on the ratings percentage index (RPI).
"I thought we played a great game for 37 minutes," said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack.
For the first 37 minutes of play, Bowling Green and Buffalo traded baskets and lead changes.
The Bulls led 57-56 with four minutes left. The Falcons' Alexis Rogers, however, scored the next five points of the game to give Bowling Green a four-point lead. As Buffalo began to foul, the Falcons went 12 for 12 from the foul line in the final two minutes to put the game away.
Sophomore guard Mackenzie Loesing was the catalyst of the Bulls' offense in the first half, scoring 12 points. BG neutralized her in the second half, though, as she scored just one point. Loesing was limited to seven minutes in the second half due to foul trouble.
"I didn't make the smartest decisions about when to be aggressive," Loesing said. "But I think the team played well in my absence. When we get a stop on defense, we need to convert that into points to pull ahead."
Bowling Green shot seven for 12 (58.3 percent) from three-point range in the first half. The Falcons didn't cool off much in the second. Erica Donovan was particularly problematic for the Bulls, as she shot seven of nine from the field and four of six from three, totaling 18 second-half points.
Buffalo trailed the Falcons 19-12 at 9:28, but went on a 7-3 run to cut the Falcons' lead to one with 6:46 left in the half. Neither team had more than a five-point lead until the final three minutes of the contest.
Bowling Green's effective three-point shooting in the first half did not translate to the second, as the team went three of 13 from beyond the arc. The Bulls' defense limited open looks but had a tough time keeping the Falcons off the line. The Falcons took advantage of the aggressive Buffalo defense, going 17 of 24 for the game from the line, including 14 of 18 in the second half.
Legette-Jack believes the team is getting better, but she knows that her young cannot afford errors against veteran teams.
"[The Falcons] are a senior-led team," Legette-Jack said. "They have a fifth-year senior and two major seniors playing great minutes. We cannot make mistakes because they will make you pay, and they did on those split decisions."
Freshman forward Alexus Malone led the Bulls in points with 18 and hit a career-high three shots from beyond the three-point line. She had hit just two three-pointers all season prior to the game.
The Bulls look to bounce back this Thursday when they travel to Ohio (8-17, 3-11 MAC). Tip is set for 7 p.m.
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Photo: Paul Hokanson/UB Athletics
