University at Buffalo
7-16, 3-7MAC
Central Michigan
8-14, 5-5MAC
Strong Defense Leads Bulls To Victory
2/6/2010 12:00:00β―AM | Women's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team was able to shut down the MAC's third best offense as the Bulls led wire-to-wire on Saturday afternoon, defeating Central Michigan, 60-52, at Alumni Arena.
The Bulls got off to a quick 9-2 lead in the contest as Central Michigan would tie it up at nine before the Bulls responded with a 6-0 run and never looked back. The Bulls shot 50 percent from the floor in the opening half and played strong defense to limit the Chippewas to just 25 points. UB had a seven-point lead late in the first half when UB ended the half on a 5-0 run thanks to a three from Brittany Heddersonand a layup at the buzzer from Kourtney Brown on a feed from Ashley Zuber.
Kourtney Brown |
UB got its lead up to as many as 14 in the second half on a three fromChrissy Cooper with 13:23 left in the half. The Chippewas would get back to within six with 6:14 left in the half, but six straight points from the Bulls put them back up 12 with 3:23 left on a Brown layup off another pass from Zuber. A couple of three-pointers from Shonda Long would keep the Chippewas in the game late, but the Bulls hit free throws at the end to pick up the win.
"I was extremely pleased with our defensive effort today," said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "I don't know if we have held an opponent to 26 percent from the floor this season and it was a total team effort on defense. What I was most pleased with was that we did it for 40 minutes."
The Bulls were led by Brown's 19 points and 14 rebounds, her 13th double-double of the season. She also added three blocks, a steal and an assist. The 19 points also move Brown into seventh place on UB's all-time scoring list. Cooper and Hedderson both finished with 11 points. Zuber tied a career-high with nine assists, tying a mark she set in November of 2007 at South Carolina. Zuber also added five points and four rebounds. In just 16 minutes of action, junior Bridgette Kendricks finished with seven points and nine rebounds
Chrissy Cooper |
Central Michigan went just 19-of-71 from the floor, including 4-of-28 from behind the arc. It was led by 16 points and 10 rebounds from Britni Houghton. Long, CMU's leading scorer, had 13 points and five boards.
Following UB's two-game homestand, it will wrap up play against the MAC West on Wednesday night as it travels to Ball State. Tipoff is at 7:00 pm.
