UB women find scoring touch again in win

As the final seconds ticked away Saturday at Niagara's Gallagher Center, it became very apparent that the UB "Sea of Blue" had flooded the Purple Eagles' home.

With strong support from their fans, the Purple Eagles of Niagara could not stop the Bulls' stampede to a score of 68-45. The Bulls improved to 2-3 overall and the Niagara Purple Eagles fell to 1-4 overall.

Leading the charge for the Bulls was UB senior Brooke Meunier, who notched 17 points in 37 minutes on the floor. The Bulls also took the battle on the boards, dominating the Purple Eagles 42 rebounds to 22.

Freshman forward Jamie Schiebner hauled in 13 rebounds to lead all players in the game, as the Bulls scored 18 points on second-chance buckets.

"We've been rebounding on the offensive end very well," said UB head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "Jamie had an unbelievable night. I'm not sure it was our best rebounding night, but it was one of our better nights."

Meunier also led the Bulls in assists, dishing out six while guard Stephanie Bennett had five. After an initial flurry by the Purple Eagles, who flew to a 14-6 start, the

UB women took an eight-point lead to the locker room at halftime.

The Bulls would continue to increase their lead in the second half, leading by as many as 25 and controlling play on both ends of the court, especially inside the paint. UB recorded 32 points down low while Niagara could only manage six points inside.

"We're as bad as the game showed," said Niagara head coach Bill Agronin. "From the shoot-around to the end of the game, we just didn't have it."

Leading the way for Niagara was junior Shaunna Ambrose, who came off the bench to score 15 points. Toni Smalley and Jessi Tomasin each scored 11 with Tomasin going 3-for-7 from beyond the three-point line. Center Sarah Wilson led the Purple Eagles with six rebounds.

All 12 UB players saw time in the game. Freshman Rayna Brown earned her first point in a UB uniform, while fellow rookie Rachelle Matthys notched six points and brought down two rebounds. Sophomores Stephanie Bennett and Heather Turner were two of eight UB scorers, each recording 12 points. Sophomore Flynn Pyykkonen had one bucket, pulled in three boards.

As a team, the Bulls shot 46 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc while Niagara shot just over 30 percent for the game but managed 32 percent of their three-point attempts.

"UB is much-improved from past years," Agronin said. "I knew this would be a tough game."

The 23-point win is the largest margin by which the Bulls have won since January 2002 when the Bulls defeated Akron by 26. UB took its second game in a row on the road, after last week's win over Lafayette. This is the first time the Bulls have won back-to-back road games since 2002-03 season.

Rebounding from tough losses at the hands of Auburn, Canisius, and a one-point loss to Syracuse, the women head back home to face Youngstown State on Wednesday. The game tips off at 7 p.m. The Youngstown State Penguins are 2-3 and play Monday before traveling to Alumni Arena to face the Bulls.