2-2
Duke
4-0
UB Women's Basketball Team Falls to #7/8 Duke Tuesday
11/25/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
DURHAM, NC – The State University of New York, Buffalo women's basketball team fell to No. 7/8 Duke, 88-54, Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Bulls (2-2) battled in the first half, holding the Blue Devils (4-0) to a season-low 36 first-half points, and trailed by 11 at intermission. UB forced Duke to commit 12 first-frame turnovers and 20 for the game. The host Blue Devils used an 8-0 run to open the latter half which they built upon for an indefinite 20-point gap.
Duke was in foul trouble in the first, resulting in UB hitting 10-of-14 free throws, though the opposite was true in the second. The Blue Devils drained 17-of-29 in the second. For the game, UB shot 69.6 percent at the charity stripe to Duke's 54.8 percent showing.
"I thought we did a pretty good job against an unbelievable team," said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "My ladies did a tremendous job in the first half, understanding that each possession mattered. We took advantage of certain opportunities."
With seven players 6'3'' or taller, Duke owned the rebounding margin, 69-31. It tallied 28 offensive boards good for 27 second-chance points. Forty-six Duke points were scored in the paint.
The Blue Devils edged UB in steals, 12-9, though UB had four blocks to Duke's three.
Duke got out to a 4-0 lead, but sophomore Alexus Malone answered with her first of a career-high-tying three threes. After the Blue Devils went inside for an 8-3 edge, sophomore Camera Miley made good on an and-one before senior Kristen Sharkey tied the game at 16:11. A Rebecca Greenwell trey 15 seconds later sparked eight straight points to secure an infinite Duke advantage.
Trailing by 13 at 5:48, UB responded with a pair of Malone free throws and a Miley jumper pulling the Bulls within nine, while holding Duke scoreless for over three minutes. The Blue Devils scored four straight points, but a Sharkey layup and redshirt-sophomore Rachel Gregory drawing a charge resulted in just an 11-point halftime deficit for the Bulls, 36-25.
Duke's 8-0 streak that tipped off the second grew to a 56-33 cushion at the 12-minute mark. The Blue Devils continued to dictate play en route to putting up a season-high 52 second-half points to the Bulls' 29.
Miley had team-highs of 15 points and six rebounds, rewriting her career-high points total by five. Malone scored 14 and grabbed five boards. Sharkey drained eight to go with game-bests of three blocks and three steals. Malone also swiped away a trio of steals. Junior Karin Moss had three assists in five minutes on the floor. Junior Mackenzie Loesing was 2-for-3 from three-point land scoring seven pints in 17 minutes of play.
The Blue Devils had five in double figures with two picking up double-doubles. Sierra Calhoun scored a contest-best 21 points on 6-for-11 shooting. Elizabeth Williams added 14 points and 10 boards and Greenwell chipped in 10 points and 13 rebounds.
The game's head coaches were former colleagues at Michigan State as Legette-Jack worked under Joanne P. McCallie from 2000-02.
The Bulls return to action Friday and Saturday, Nov. 28-29 at the Miami Thanksgiving Tournament. UB will face Tulsa Friday at 3 pm and either the host Hurricanes or Illinois State Saturday at 1 or 3 pm.
