University at Buffalo
9-10 (2-4)
Toledo
13-6 (5-1)
Second Half Charge Falls Short At Toledo
1/22/2011 12:00:00β―AM | Women's Basketball
TOLEDO , OH – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team outscored its opponent by 10 in the second half, but was unable overcome a slow start, falling to Toledo, 67-53, Saturday afternoon at Savage Arena. The game was UB's first of the season against a MAC West opponent.
The Rockets jumped out to a 40-16 halftime lead as Toledo shot 51.7 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from behind the arc in the opening 20 minutes. The Bulls hit just six shots in the first half, three of those coming on threes from sophomore Nicki Hopkins, who was making her third start of the season.
Toledo got its lead up to as many as 30 with just over 11 minutes to go in the second half, but the Bulls cut into it going on a 10-0 run over the next two and a half minutes. Six of the points came from Hopkins, while the other four were provided by senior Kourtney Brown. Toledo would reclaim a 24-point lead, but again Buffalo rallied with an 11-1 run, cutting the lead to 14 with just under two minutes left. The Bulls would get it to as close as 12 on two free throws from Teresa Semalulu, but ultimately ran out of time.
The Bulls had nine different scorers in the game led by a game-high 18 points and 13 rebounds from Brown, who picked up her 41st career double-double. The 13 rebounds move Brown into a first-place tie for career boards in school history with Janet Lilley at 982. Brown's first rebound in Wednesday afternoon's game will break the 30-year old mark. Her 18 points also give her 1,697 for her career, just six away from tying the school record.
Hopkins played a career-high 37 minutes as she tied her career-high with 15 points on five made three pointers. Senior Ashley Zuber also finished in double figures with 10 points. She added four assists and two steals. While Brown, Hopkins and Zuber combined for 43 points, the other 10 came from the bench with six players recording at least a point, including all three freshmen. Junior Beth Christensen came off the bench to grab six rebounds.
Toledo had three players in double figures led by 12 points from Naama Shafir, who also had seven assists. Jessica Williams had 11 points and Melissa Goodall added 10. In all 12 different players scored for the Rockets.
The Bulls will remain on the road as they head to Central Michigan on Wednesday. It will be another Kid's Day game for UB with tip off coming at 12:00 pm.
