UB Women's Basketball To Battle Central Michigan Wednesday
1/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
UB at Central Michigan Game Notes
MOUNT PLEASANT, MI – The University at Buffalo, State University of New York women's basketball team travels to Central Michigan for a 7 pm Mid-American Conference contest Wednesday at McGuirk Arena.
The Chippewas lead the all-time series, 9-8, and have won five straight contests. UB won the first five including the inaugural game, 59-56, during the 1998-99 season.
The Bulls, who have won five of their last seven, have a field goal percentage of .364 and a free throw percentage of .674. Leading the MAC in blocked shots (56, 4.7/g) and steals (142, 11.8/g), UB is averaging 65.8 points and 42.8 boards per game. Senior captain Kristen Sharkey, who was named MAC East Player of the Week on Monday, is averaging a Bull-best 12.4 points a game to go with 7.3 boards and a team-high 25 steals. Sophomore Alexus Malone is posting 12.1 points and 8.8 rebounds a contest. She has six double-doubles to rank second in the MAC and leads UB with 26 assists. Junior Mackenzie Loesing is averaging 12.0 points per contest. Senior captain Christa Baccas is contributing 8.6 points, with redshirt-sophomore Rachael Gregory chipping in 8.3 to help guide the balanced UB offense. Junior Karin Moss and sophomore Camera Miley have dished out 25 and 22 assists, respectively. Ranking second all-time at UB and eighth nationally among active Division I student-athletes with 212 blocks, Baccas has 24 in eight games of play. She pulls down 7.8 boards per contest.
The 6-6 Chippewas have won two of their last three, most recently upending Kent State, 83-62, in their MAC opener on Saturday. CMU picked up additional victories against Massachusetts, Richmond, Oregon, Delaware State and Oakland. Two of its losses have come to #1 South Carolina and #13/9 Kentucky. Central Michigan is marginally outscoring opponents, 71.4-70.9, and leading rebounding efforts, 41.4-39.1. The squad is shooting 41.3 percent from the field and 67.8 percent at the line. CMU's 32.8 percent showing at the arc ranks third in the MAC as do its 77 threes. Senior Crystal Bradford paces the MAC and ranks 20th in the nation scoring 20.5 points per game. She adds a team-bests of 8.6 rebounds per outing, 26 steals and 40 assists in 11 games. Jas'Mine Bracey, who is the only Chippewa to start all 12 games, has a team-high 18 blocks. Kerby Tamm is scoring 8.4 points and Bracey 8.1 a game. Jewel Cotton and Cassandra Breen each add 7.8 per contest. Bracey is pulling down 7.6 boards and Cotton 6.3 per outing.
The game will air on ESPN 1520 AM with Sloane Martin on the call, while a live webcast is available on ESPN3. Fans can also follow along with live stats or live tweets.
