UB's Sharkey, Loesing Pepper Preseason All-Big 4 Teams
10/29/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY – The State University of New York, Buffalo women's basketball team received additional praise Wednesday at the annual Big 4 Media Day at the First Niagara Center. Senior forward Kristen Sharkey and junior guard Mackenzie Loesing were named to the Preseason All-Big 4 Teams.
Loesing was named to the first team, while Sharkey earned second-team recognition. The duo was honored with preseason All-MAC East honors earlier in the day. The Bulls, too, received preseason MAC recognition as the league coaches picked UB to win the MAC East Division.
Loesing posted a team-best 16.3 points per game in 2013-14, good for sixth-most in the MAC to earn second-team All-MAC accolades. She also ranked fourth in the conference with 2.0 steals per game, while becoming the first sophomore in program history to reach 800 career points. Loesing registered game-best numbers of 30 points at Akron, 10 rebounds against Cornell and twice swiped away five steals.
A third-team All-MAC honoree in 2013-14, Sharkey was the only Bull to start every game a season ago. She ranked second on the squad with 14.7 points per contest and led UB with 8.7 boards per game. Sharkey tallied 11 double-doubles, highlighted by a 36-point, 10-rebound performance at Ball State. Her point total ranks tied for the third-most single-game points in the program history.
The Bulls earned their highest-ever seed in the MAC Tournament last season. Head coach Felisha Legette-Jack led the Bulls to a 2013-14 record of 17-13 overall and 10-8 in the MAC, the program's finest showing in over 10 years. UB's offensive output, that improved 7.3 points per game from 2012-13 to 2013-14, returns 77.5 percent of its offensive.
Graduating just one starter, sophomore Alexus Malone and senior Christa Baccas also return to the court for the Bulls, as does redshirt-sophomore Rachael Gregory. A primary starter as a freshman, Gregory is coming off a medial redshirt season in 2013-14.
UB tips off the regular season on Friday, Nov. 14 hosting Siena at 5 pm. The Bulls will face Buffalo State in an exhibition game at Alumni Arena Saturday, Nov. 8 at 2 pm.
