The women's basketball team is in the middle of Michigan madness.
After beating Western Michigan (6-16, 1-8 Mid-American Conference) on the road last Saturday, the Bulls (6-16, 2-7, MAC) came home to battle the Eastern Michigan Eagles (16-5, 6-3 MAC), who currently sit in second place in the MAC West Division. Wednesday's game will be followed by a showdown with the Central Michigan Chippewa's (8-12, 5-3 MAC) on Saturday afternoon.
The game against the Eagles pitted two of the top scorers in the conference against each other. Bulls forward Kourtney Brown and Eastern Michigan guard Tavelyn James went head-to-head for 40 minutes, and although both players had outstanding games, one star clearly shone brighter.
With a strong second half run, the Bulls played the Eagles close but didn't have an answer for James, falling 78-65 in the end.
James scored 40 points in the contest on 13-for-22 shooting from the field. The skilled sophomore went 5-for-11 from 3-point range and connected on 9-of-11 from the free throw line.
The Bulls focused on hitting eight of their first nine shots to jump out to an 18-15 lead with 11 minutes left in the first half.
Freshman guard Abby Dowd drained a 3-point bucket in dramatic fashion to beat the shot clock, but the Bulls would struggle from there.
After the solid shooting performance to start the game, the Bulls hit a glacier-cold streak, missing their next nine attempts. The poor shooting, coupled with 12 turnovers, led to a halftime deficit of 36-29.
James came out of the locker room determined, scoring 25 of her 40 points during the first 12 minutes of the second half. The scoring outburst by the sophomore helped balloon the largest lead of the day for the Eagles to 67-51. James went 7-for-8 from the field during that span and single-handedly dominated the Bulls.
With all hope fading, the Bulls pulled together and made their charge back, led by the tough play of Brown, who finished the game with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
Brown converted on 8-of-10 free throws and her tenacity to get to the line helped bring the Bulls to within four points, 69-65 with 2:05 left on the clock.
That is as close as Buffalo would come as the Eagles made eight straight free throws to ice the game.
Junior forward Jessica Fortman also had a good game for the Bulls, scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds.
Eastern Michigan played standout defense on its way to victory. They recorded 13 steals in the game and outscored the Bulls 31-16 on points off turnovers.
Off the bench, Eagles junior guard Sydney Huntley provided a spark, scoring 22 points. She went 7-for-13 from the field and 4-for-7 from 3-point range.
Saturday's afternoon battle against the Chippewas is scheduled for a 2 p.m. tip-off at Alumni Arena, where the Bulls look to make it two out of three against the MAC Michigan trio.
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