Women’s basketball defeats Bowling Green in overtime thriller, 69-68:
The women’s basketball team ended its regular season in extreme fashion with a thrilling victory over Bowling Green at the Stroh Center Saturday.
Four Bulls scored in double figures for the second straight game. The Bulls were led by junior forward Keowa Walters, who recorded a career-high 18 points, five rebounds and two steals. Sophomore guard Dyaisha Fair scored 16 points on 6-17 shooting to go along with three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Freshman Cheyenne McEvans and redshirt senior Summer Hemphill also had a great effort, combining for 23 points, ten rebounds, eight assists, three blocks and three steals.
The Bulls dominated under the basket, scoring 50 points in the paint for the second straight game. UB was also able to turn defense into offense with nine steals leading to 10 fastbreak points. With the win over Bowling Green, UB clinched the No. 4 seed in the upcoming MAC Tournament, finishing the season with a 14-8 record. The Bulls won five of their final eight games to clinch the No. 4 seed.
UB begins tournament play with an evening tilt against No. 5 seed Kent State on Wednesday, March 10 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland.
Softball returns south, wins first two games of the season in the Jacksonville/North Florida Tournament:
After a 0-8 start to the season, softball secured its first win in a 7-3 drubbing of North Florida in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader.
Junior Alexis Matheney blasted a three-run home run in the top of the first inning to help the Bulls jump out to a quick 3-0 lead. UB never looked back after senior Jenna Richmond and sophomore Mykaela Martin reached home plate in the top of the fourth inning to make the score 5-2. In the top of the seventh inning, senior Alicia Peters capped off UB’s strong performance with a two-run home run to reach seven runs total. It was Peters’ second home run of the season.
In Sunday’s matchup against the Florida A&M Rattlers, softball only needed five innings to notch a dominant 9-1 victory. The Bulls scored multiple runs in four of the five innings and received solid pitching performances from graduate student Ally Marcano and sophomore Madelyn Hickingbottom. Marcano didn’t allow a single earned run in three innings pitched, striking out four batters to earn her first win of the season. Hickingbottom closed out the game in the final two innings and didn’t allow a hit.
UB will begin Mid-American Conference play on Friday, March 12 when they hit the road to face the Akron Zips.
Women’s soccer dominates Miami (OH), 5-0, for first win of the season:
Women’s soccer picked up its first win of the season in dominant fashion, beating Miami (OH) 5-0 on Sunday afternoon in Oxford, OH.
After being shut out in their first game of the season, the Bulls came out aggressive, drawing a penalty kick just 15 minutes in. Sophomore midfielder Leah Wengender’s penalty kick saw the back of the net to start off the scoring for the Bulls. Senior midfielder/forward Marcy Barberic maintained an active pace throughout the match, posting five shots on goal, scoring two goals and assisting on another. Senior forward Gianna Yurchak had two goals on two shots. A stellar three-save performance from junior goalkeeper Emily Kelly secured her first shutout of the season.
The Bulls dominated in all aspects of the game. UB outshot Miami 15-5, including a 10-3 edge in registered shots on net. A clean game with only nine fouls and zero offsides propelled the Bulls to a dominant victory.
UB will have plenty of time to recover from Sunday’s game before returning home to UB Stadium to host defending MAC champions Bowling Green on Sunday, March 14 at 12 p.m.
The sports desk can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com
Hunter Skoczylas is the sports editor for The Spectrum. In his free time, he can be found looking up random sports statistics, jamming to Fleetwood Mac and dedicating his Sunday afternoons to watching the Buffalo Bills.
Kayla Sterner is an assistant sports editor at The Spectrum. She is studying communications with the hopes of being a sideline reporter. In her spare time, she can be found in the gym, watching football or vibing to Mac Miller. Kayla is on Twitter @kaylasterner.
