1-1
Duquesne
2-0
Turnovers Costly As Bulls Fall At Duquesne, 90-46
11/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
PITTSBURGH, PA - The host Duquesne University used a 30-0 first half run as it forced 35 Buffalo turnovers and the Bulls lost 90-46 at the A.J Palumbo Center. The loss evens Buffalo's record at 1-1 on the year.
The Bulls opened the contest by taking a quick lead as senior Brittany Hedderson took in the opening tip and found Beth Christensen for an easy layup just five seconds into the game. However, that would be the high point for the Bulls, who went down early 6-2. Down 10-8, Buffalo got a basket from Hedderson to tie it up with 11:26 left in the half, but it would be UB's last points of the half. The Dukes scored the final 30 points of the half as the Bulls turned it over 22 times in the opening 20 minutes.
UB found a little more offense in the second half, but so did Duquesne. The Bulls were outscored 50-36 in the second 20 minutes, but the Bulls were able to get game action from their five freshmen. Valerie Majewski made the most of her minutes with seven points, including her first collegiate three pointer. Also scoring their first collegiate points were Christa Baccas, Kasheema Besley and Kaila Callender.
The Bulls were led by 10 points from Ephesia Holmes, who hit two three pointers and went a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Hedderson, fresh off her MAC East Player of the Week selection, scored eight points.
Christensen added nine rebounds, while sophomore Rachel Bantelman finished with a career-best six rebounds. Junior Nicki Hopkins added five points, while Margeaux Gupilan had three.
"When you turn the ball over as many times as we did tonight, not a whole lot of things are going to go right," said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "We have a very young team and we need to use tonight as a learning experience and get better from it."
The Dukes, who improved to 2-0, were led by four players in double figures. Wumi Agunbiade and Belma Nurkic each had 16 points, while Alex Gensler added 13.
The Bulls will return to action on Saturday when they host Bucknell at 5:30 pm.
