Looking for its second win of the season, the UB women's basketball team traveled to Lewisburg, Pa. to take on the Bucknell Bison, another team that was looking for its second win of the season.
The Bulls came up short, however, falling to the Bison 68-56 in the non-league contest.
"Somebody wanted to get their second win tonight," said UB head coach Cheryl Dozier. "We didn't want it as bad as Bucknell."
UB turnovers and a solid Bucknell defensive unit ultimately proved to be the difference in the game.
Despite shooting 42.6 percent while holding the Bison (2-5 overall, 0-0 Patriot League) to 38.3 percent shooting from the field, the Bulls (1-5 overall, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) were forced into committing 27 turnovers on the night. Bucknell's Kristina Collymore led the Bison defense with five steals and five blocks.
"You have to look at the stats," said Dozier. "Twenty-seven turnovers is too many, they did a good job forcing us into turnovers, we didn't do that to them, that's the tale of the game right there."
The Bulls jumped out to an early lead on a lay-up by freshman Heather Turner. UB led by as many as seven points on three occasions in the first half of the contest, but Bucknell bounced back and capped off a six-point scoring run to take a seven-point lead over the Bulls with 2:18 left to play in the first half and an eight-point lead at the half.
Coming out of the locker room at the half, the Bulls hung with the Bison and eventually closed in on the Bucknell lead. Down by eight points, Bucknell's Rachel Hanley hit a shot to give the Bison a 46-36 lead with 12:06 remaining in the game.
Throughout the rest of the second half, Bucknell hit 8-12 free throws to end the game 20-28 from the charity stripe. The Bulls failed to answer Bucknell's final charge, and were outscored 8-2 in the final 2:16 of the game, to finish the night with a loss by the final score of 68-56.
UB's Turner led all scorers with 19 points on a 9-10 shooting performance. The freshman also grabbed eight boards and threw in a block.
"I was very pleased with Heather Turner, as a team we just need to take better care of the basketball," Dozier said.
Brooke Meunier chipped in with nine points and five assists for the Bulls, while Viorica Badinici and Belinda Gibb each added eight points apiece.
Buffalo will return to action on Saturday when it hosts cross-town rival Niagara University at Alumni Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
