Women's basketball teeter-totters in win column

It's been the story of the team's season so far. One up, one down, one win, one loss, one good half, one bad half.

But no half has been as bad as the one UB women's basketball played on Saturday, making only six field goals in a 72-62 loss to Ohio. The Bulls scored only 17 points in the half, beating their previous low of 18 points in the first half of their Nov. 22 match-up against Auburn.

With the winter break now behind them, women's basketball will now forge on into the rest of conference play at 6-8 overall and 1-2 in the Mid-American Conference.

"Over the break we had a couple losses here, and two real good wins on the road," said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "We're pleased with what we're doing on the road, and what we did on the road, but not at all happy with what we've been doing at home."

In the Ohio game, the Bobcats' biggest weapon was three-point threat Katie Reihmann, who hit four of her team's five three-pointers in the first half.

"It was in the scout, and that's what she does, spot up behind the three-point line, get open and get the shot," Hill-MacDonald said.

Reihmann accounted for more than a third of her team's offense in that first half, but was overshadowed by the Ohio defense, which held the Bulls to 21.4 percent shooting.

Buffalo's second half, however, was nearly its best half of basketball all year. The scored 45 points on 54.5 percent shooting, but could not overcome their first half deficit.

"We weren't running anything different," Hill-MacDonald said. "We were just making better adjustments, looking for better shots and taking better shots."

Buffalo's biggest adjustment was shutting down Reihmann, who went 0-1 from the field in the second half despite the Bulls' unchanging defensive strategy.

"There was no reason why we shouldn't have been able to shut her down in the first half like we did in the second half," said Hill-MacDonald.

Sophomore guard Stephanie Bennett, who scored a team-high 16 points, said after the game that she and her teammates have to play more consistently.

"We played great in the second half, but there's 40 minutes of basketball," she said.

The Bulls were much more accurate from long range in the second half as they shot 36.4 percent. Unfortunately for Buffalo, even though the team shut down Reihmann, the Bulls were unable to contain the Bobcats' offense, which shot 57.9 percent from the field. Ohio (5-9, 2-1 MAC) also made 62.5 percent of its foul shots, including a lethal 13-14 by Simone Redd, who scored a game-high 19 points.

Hill-MacDonald was impressed with the team's ability to stay in the game in the second half, despite their poor start.

"We were challenging their defense, because their defense dictated the game in the first half," she said. "It would have been very easy for them to fall out of it and back into some bad habits."

Outside of Bennett's performance, three other Bulls scored in double figures. Freshman Jamie Schiebner had 10 points while senior Brooke Meunier had 11 and sophomore Heather Turner turned in the Bulls' only double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Turner's outstanding game was not a surprise to the Bulls, as her consistently strong play has kept the team afloat as it has struggled through a 3-5 winter break. The sophomore averaged 15.8 points and 9.0 rebounds per game while being named the MAC East Player of the Week twice, making her the first UB women's basketball player to win the award twice in a year since the 2002-2003 season.

The first time Turner received the award, she scored a team-high 18 points on a perfect night from the field against Northeastern at Alumni Arena, as the Bulls won 87-59 on Dec. 18, in their first game during the winter recess.

The Bulls followed their victory over Northeastern with an overtime loss to Oakland by a final score of 82-80. Meunier led the Bulls in that game with 25 points, which tied her career high.

UB's next game was a 74-63 loss at home to Bucknell. The Bulls had a seven-point lead in the second half, but were unable to keep the Bisons down, despite Turner's career-high and game-high 25 points.

The team didn't have much downtime, as UB traveled to San Antonio and played a game at the UTSA Wells Fargo New Year's Classic. Just two days later, the Bulls defeated the University of Texas San Antonio 73-62. Turner came out strong again, leading the team with 23 points, 19 in the second half.

UB was unable to capitalize on its momentum the following day, as the team was blown out by Tulsa, 39-64. Turner had the second-worst offensive game of her season, scoring only six points, but was still able to grab all-tournament honors.

In their conference opener, the Bulls continued their up-and-down season with a 78-75 win against Miami (Ohio) but were unable to capitalize on the good start as they lost their next game to Bowling Green by a final score of 75-48.

UB's next test will come with a conference match-up at Akron on Wednesday at 7 p.m.