6-15, 1-6MAC
Eastern Michigan
13-7, 5-2MAC
Eagles Run Past Bulls, 72-54
1/25/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY – The visiting Eastern Michigan Eagles took advantage of 29 Buffalo turnovers on Wednesday night as the Bulls fell to EMU, 72-54, at Alumni Arena. UB got a career-high 18 points from freshman Christa Baccas, but the Bulls fell to 6-15 on the season and 1-6 in the MAC.
Both teams had a tough time getting anything going early on as the Bulls led just 5-2 over four minutes into the game. The Eagles would go on to take a four-point lead at 14-10, but the Bulls responded with a 7-0 run, capped off on a three pointer by Nicki Hopkins off an inbound pass from Brittany Hedderson. UB kept things tight as a Valerie Majewski three pointer with 6:33 in the half tied it up at 20-20. However, the Eagles responded with an 8-0 run and then led for the rest of the game. EMU's Tavelyn James would hit three of her game-high 34 points in the final minute of the opening half, giving the Eagles a 34-23 lead into the break.
The Bulls would stay within striking distance for the majority of the second half, going on a 6-0 run to pull within nine at the 4:21 mark, 59-50. The Eagles again answered the Buffalo run with one of their own, scoring the next 11 points to go up by 20 at 70-50, their largest lead of the game.
Baccas led the way for the Bulls with her 18 points, the only UB player to score in double figures. The freshman from Hillburn, NY was extremely efficient, doing her scoring on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor. She added six rebounds and three blocked shots. Feeding the ball to Baccas all evening was sophomore Margeaux Gupilan, who finished with a team-high seven assists.
Hedderson finished with nine points, breaking a stretch of six straight 20-point games. Hopkins added eight points, including a career best 5-for-5 performance from the free throw line. She added three rebounds, an assist and a steal. Redshirt sophomore Nytor Longar had five points, while senior Beth Christensen added three points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
In all, eight of the nine players that saw action on the evening recorded points as Majewski added three and senior Teresa Semalulu finished with two points, four rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Eastern Michigan (13-7, 5-2 MAC) got 34 points from James, who also added four steals. Paige Reddit also finished in double figures with 11 points and seven rebounds.
The Bulls will remain home on Saturday afternoon when they host Toledo at 2:00 pm. It will be UB's "Play 4 Kay" game and fans attending the contest are encouraged to wear pink.
