After winning three of its first four games to start the season, the women's basketball team lost its second consecutive game on Tuesday, falling to Holy Cross.
Buffalo (3-3) stretched their record to an even .500 after their trip to Worcester, MA, where they lost to the Holy Cross Crusaders (4-3) 71-57 at the Hart Center.
With head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald out for this game, it was up to assistant coach Cara Pearson to take the reins for the team once again.
"We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but our defensive intensity picked up and I am proud of the effort we gave on defense," Pearson said.
The Crusaders jumped out ahead early, starting the game on a 10-0 run. When senior Heather Turner made a jump shot at 14:23, the Bulls began to swing their offense into gear. However, despite their best efforts, Buffalo was never to get closer than three points throughout the game. The Bulls went into halftime trailing 29-22.
"Our defense really kicked in, and they weren't really scoring, but we weren't really as well. We were missing easy buckets, and you got to say our kids fought on the defensive end that for sure," Pearson said.
In the second half, the Crusaders came out fighting hard. They would score seven straight points giving them a 14-point lead with just over 18 minutes to play in the game. From there on out it was a battle back for Buffalo, as they answered back with eight straight points of their own.
Buffalo moved to within three at 52-49, but Holy Cross outscored the Bulls 19-8 over the final seven minutes of the game to win by 14.
Sophomore guard Ashley Zuber finished the game with 14 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists on the night leading the Bulls. Senior forward Heather Turner would boast 13 points while senior guard Stephanie Bennett hit four three-pointers and had a team-high five rebounds with three assists. Freshman forward Jessica Fortman put up three points, four rebounds, four steals, and a blocked shot
"I think that our game plan worked really, really well. There was a series of mental mistakes that didn't go our way," Pearson said.
Holy Cross was lead by Laura Aloisi with 17 points and two rebounds. Briana McFadden put up 16 points, one rebound, and three assists on the night. Tayana Carpenter also had a career-high nine rebounds against the Bulls and recorded 13 points.
A positive note for the Bulls is that Pearson said Linda Hill-MacDonald is recovering and will be returning soon.
"She's itching to get back," Pearson said. "We drove out three tapes to her so she can watch our next game. She's not the kind of person to sit still for too long."
The Bulls will return to the Buffalo area for the big annual cross-town rival game against Niagara University. The Bulls will travel to the Purple Eagle's Gallagher Center to play on Saturday. The game that was recently scheduled for 2 p.m. has been moved to 5 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
