Coming off a breakthrough season last year, the women's basketball team had high expectations coming into this season. But, prior to Wednesday's game against the Youngstown State Penguins, the Bulls had yet to live up to these expectations.
In an Alumni Arena 11 a.m. matinee however, Buffalo (1-2) showed the Penguins, and anyone else who was second-guessing them, why they are considered so dangerous. The Bulls exploded for 48 points in the second half to earn their first victory of the season, 68-58.
"I'm pleased with our offensive production in the second half, scoring 48 points," said Buffalo head coach Cheryl Dozier. "We have scorers on this team, and we just need to consistently run our offense and have confidence in our offensive abilities like we did today."
The Bulls trailed 22-20 at the half, but rallied back to tie the game at 37 with 12:15 to go. Buffalo then got two consecutive baskets by senior Jessica Kochendorfer, who led all scorers with 19 points. The buckets gave UB a 41-37 lead that they would never relinquish.
Allison Bennett and Brooke Meunier were the Bulls' other major offensive contributors. Bennett chipped in 13 and Meunier added 12, while both pulled down six rebounds. Kochendorfer also led UB in rebounding with seven boards.
The Bulls credited their strong team defense in the first half to the win.
"I'm proud of our team for fighting through our 0-2 start and getting a solid win today," said Dozier. "I think a lot of it had to do with our defense showing up. We held them to 22 points in the first half and then did a good job executing our offense in the second half to earn the win."
Devin Novak added 17 points and Kristy Gaudiose turned in 12 to lead YSU. Poor shooting throughout the game hurt the Penguins, even though they out-rebounded UB. Youngstown State shot just 20 of 60 from the floor.
UB Heads to Auburn
Buffalo ventures to Auburn on Sunday, where the Bulls will look to build on their first victory of the season when they play in what promises to be one of their toughest challenges of the season.
The Tigers (4-2) are currently ranked 25th in the nation and still have a game before they play Buffalo against North Carolina A&T on Friday night.
Auburn enters the weekend after splitting games at the Duke Classic, where they defeated Creighton in the first round 79-72, but fell in the championship game to No. 4 Duke 66-57 on Sunday.
The Bulls, meanwhile, will have four days rest before the game and will look to give another strong effort for the second game in a row in what will be the first ever meeting between the two teams.
Senior Le'Coe Willingham leads Auburn coming off of an amazing two game performance in the Duke classic. In the first game against Creighton, Willingham controlled all aspects of the game as she had eight rebounds, six steals and four assists in addition to her team and season high 21 points.
In the game against Duke, the Tigers lost a tough 66-57 contest at home. They had a two-point lead with seven minutes to go but could not hold on. It will be tough to get up for the Bulls after going against the sixth ranked Duke Blue Devils, but the Tigers don't want to overlook anyone.
"With Buffalo, there is a familiar face on the staff in (former Auburn player) Evelyn Thompson, who is an assistant coach," said Auburn head coach Joe Ciampi. "They bring in here a team that offensively likes to run the floor. They are a team that likes to spread the floor out and take the perimeter shot, but also rebound the ball hard and try to get you into a running game."
A win for the UB Bulls would be huge for the program. Defeating an SEC opponent that is ranked in the top 25 on the road would probably be enough to launch the Bulls into national recognition.
However, this would not be the first victory over a ranked opponent in recent memory. Buffalo did defeat No. 22 North Carolina to open the 2000 season by the score of 95-89.
Kochendorfer and the rest of the Bulls will need their best all around effort ever as a team to stop Willingham and the depth of the Tigers if they hope to repeat in the role of victorious underdog.
Tip off will be at 1 p.m. on Sunday in Auburn.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
