Bulls Shooting For Fourth Straight Win, Face Manhattan Friday
12/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Buffalo vs. Manhattan Game Notes
RIVERDALE, NY – The University at Buffalo, State University of New York women's basketball team is in the hunt for its fourth straight win as it travels to Manhattan College Friday for a 7 pm game at Draddy Gymnasium.
The Bulls hit the road for the fifth time in six games after picking up a 51-44 victory against local Big 4 foe, St. Bonaventure, on Monday night in Alumni Arena. UB (5-3) owns a 1-0 series record over the Jaspers (1-8), having claimed a 61-45 victory in the inaugural matchup on Nov. 18, 2006 in game one of the St. Bonaventure Shootout in Elmira, NY.
For the year, UB has a field goal percentage of 34.5 and a free throw percentage of 70.4. The Bulls are averaging 65.8 points and 44.4 boards per game. With five double-doubles, sophomore Alexus Malone is posting 13.1 points and 10.0 rebounds a contest. Her rebounding average leads the Mid-American Conference. Senior Kristen Sharkey and junior Mackenzie Loesing each add 11.5 points per game. Senior Christa Baccas is contributing 10.5 and redshirt-sophomore Rachael Gregory 9.6 to help guide the balanced UB offense. With 19 on the season, Sharkey leads UB and ranks second in the MAC with 2.4 steals per game. Following a career-high performance against the Bonnies, junior Karin Moss has a Bull-best 17 assists. Malone has dished out 16 and sophomore Camera Miley 15. Baccas has 13 blocks in four games of play.
Manhattan is riding a seven-game losing streak, most recently falling to American on Wednesday night, 60-52. The Jaspers, who are winless at home, picked up their lone victory of the season at Holy Cross on Nov. 16, 66-60. Averaging 49.8 points and 34.4 rebounds per game, the Jaspers trail opponents in both categories. The squad is shooting 33.9 percent from the floor, 68.3 percent from the line and 25.0 percent from beyond the arc. Shayna Ericksen, who shoots 52.8 percent from the field, leads the Jaspers in scoring and rebounding with 10.1 and 7.5 per contest, respectively. She also chips in a team-best nine steals. Having played in all nine games, starting seven, Nyasha Irizarry adds 7.1 points a game when seeing a team-high 30.9 minutes per outing. Jacqui Thompson has dished out a team-high 25 assists and adds eight steals on the season. Kayla Grimme has swatted away 18 blocks. Thompson and Grimme each average 5.7 points per contest.
The game will air on ESPN 1520 AM with Sloane Martin on the call, while a webcast on JasperVision is available for a fee. Fans can also follow along with live stats or live tweets.
