Bulls Close Out Big 4 Schedule at Niagara
12/20/2013 12:00:00β―AM | Women's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY - The Buffalo women's basketball team will play its final game of 2013 Saturday afternoon, traveling north to take on Niagara. It will be the second Big 4 game in a row, as the team is coming off a 76-71 overtime loss at St. Bonaventure Tuesday night.
The Bulls lost a lead late in regulation against the Bonnies, despite solid games from Kristen Sharkey and Mackenzie Loesing. Sharkey would post her second double-double of the season with 10 rebounds to go with 20 points, her third time reach 20 this season. Loesing would score 20 points as well, including a four-minute stretch in the second half where she would hit ten straight points for the team.
Defensively, the Bulls are as strong as ever, ranking first in the Mid-American Conference in steals (11.9) and blocks (4.7) per game. After recording 14 steals against the Bonnies, UB now ranks in the top 20 in the country in steals per game and has three players (Loesing, Margeaux Gupilan and Christa Baccas) who are ranked individually in the top ten in the conference for steals.
The Purple Eagles played their first game in almost two weeks this past Thursday, losing to the 23rd-ranked Syracuse Orangemen 80-44. That dropped the team's overall record to 2-6, 0-5 on the road. The team relies on a balanced attack, with eight different players making at least two starts and seven players averaging five points or more per game. Meghan McGuinness leads the team with 10.8 points per game, and Chanel Johnson also post double digits with 10.5 points and a team-high 6.7 rebounds. The Eagles are struggling with turnovers, averaging 20 per game, but have found a confident ball-handler in Kelly Van Leeuwen, who has a team-high 32 assists to just 12 turnovers.
Niagara finished last season with a 15-16 overall record, 9-9 in the MAAC which was good for fifth place. In the preseason coaches poll, the Eagles were picked to finish eighth in the 11-team league.
This will be the 37th meeting between the Western New York rivals, and it has been a series full of streaks. Niagara won 15 straight games in the series, from 1976 to 1994, but the Bulls have won 13 of the last 16 games, including eight straight games dating back to 2005.
Saturday's game will be part of a triple header on 1270 "The Fan", as it will lead straight into the men's basketball game at the Barclay's Center at 3 pm before fans can tune into UB football's game in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl at 5:30. Doug Page will have the radio call, and fans can also watch the game locally on Time Warner Cable Sports.
