UB Women's Basketball to Host Huskies Saturday at 2 pm
1/23/2015 12:00:00β―AM | Women's Basketball
UB vs. Northern Illinois Game Notes
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo, State University of New York women's basketball team will host Mid-American Conference opponent Northern Illinois Saturday afternoon. The Bulls (9-8, 2-4 MAC) & the Huskies (6-9, 2-3 MAC) will meet for the 21st time with a 2 pm contest in Alumni Arena.
Though the Huskies lead the all-time series, 13-7, the Bulls have won five straight contests dating back to 2011-12. Northern Illinois won the inaugural meeting in 1998-99, 77-68 in double overtime, one of four OT contests the squads have played. The Huskies were also victorious in a triple overtime game, 81-72, in 2005-06.
Looking for their third conference win of the season, the Bulls have a field goal percentage of .354 and a free throw percentage of .667. UB, who leads the MAC in three-point field goal defense, offensive rebounds per game and steals, is averaging 64.3 points and 43.6 boards per game. Senior captain Kristen Sharkey paces UB with 13.2 points per game to go with 8.1 boards and 31 steals, while shooting a team-best .800 from the charity stripe. Junior Mackenzie Loesing is averaging 13.1 points per game and has 24 threes on the year. Sophomore Alexus Malone is posting 11.5 points and 8.4 rebounds a contest. She has six double-doubles and leads UB with 36 assists and 33 steals. Senior captain Christa Baccas is contributing 8.0 points per game to help guide the balanced UB offense. She pulls down a Bull-best 8.6 boards per contest, highlighted by a MAC-high 4.1 offensive boards per game. Ranking second all-time at UB and 13th nationally among active Division I student-athletes with 218 blocks, Baccas has 30 to rank second in the conference this season. Sophomore Camera Miley has dished out 30 assists.
The 6-9 Huskies are coming off a 67-40 setback at Ohio on Wednesday. They picked up their pair of MAC victories against Eastern Michigan, 54-48 in overtime to open league play, and Kent State, 66-49, last Saturday. Northern Illinois went 4-6 in non-conference action. NIU is being outscored by opponents, 55.3-53.5, and outrebounded, 38.9-34.6. The Huskies are shooting .353 from the floor, .229 from the arc and .699 from the line. Despite a league-low scoring output, the Huskies pace the conference with a scoring defense of 55.3.
The game will air on ESPN 1520 AM with Sloane Martin on the call, while a live ESPN3 webcast will be available. Fans can also follow along with live stats or live tweets.
ESPN3 is available at no additional cost to fans who receive ESPN as part of their TV subscription through participating TV providers. ESPN3 is also available at no cost to US college students and US-based military personnel on computers connected to on-campus educational networks and on-base military networks.
