Bulls Shooting for Fifth Straight Win Wednesday at Akron
2/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
AKRON, OH – The University at Buffalo, State University of New York women's basketball team travels to Akron for a Mid-American Conference contest Wednesday. The Bulls (13-8, 6-4 MAC) and the Zips (17-5, 7-4 MAC) will meet for the 40th time with a 7 pm game at Rhodes Arena.
UB won the inaugural game, 101-58, on Feb. 2, 1992 and holds a 20-19 edge over the Zips. The teams have played at least two times annually since 1998-99. From the 1999-2000 season to 2007-08, the Bulls won 15 of 18 contests played. The Zips have tallied nine unanswered dating back to 2010-11.
Looking for their fifth straight win, the Bulls have a field goal percentage of 36.7 and a free throw percentage of 65.9. UB, who leads the MAC in three-point field goal defense (.260), offensive rebounds (16.0), rebounding offense (43.6) and steals per game (11.1), is averaging 64.2 points and 43.6 boards per game. Senior Kristen Sharkey paces UB with 14.8 points per outing to go with 8.1 boards and 36 steals, while shooting a team-best 78.0 percent from the charity stripe. Junior Mackenzie Loesing is averaging 13.2 points per game and has 30 threes on the year. Sophomore Alexus Malone is posting 11.1 points and 8.3 rebounds a contest. She has seven double-doubles and chips in 37 assists and 36 steals. Senior Christa Baccas is contributing 8.0 points per game to help guide the balanced UB offense. She pulls down a Bull-best 8.4 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 225 blocks, Baccas has 37 to sit third in the conference this season. Junior Karin Moss has dished out a Bull-best 39 assists.
The 17-5 Zips are putting up 76.1 points per game to lead the MAC on a league-leading 44.7 percent showing from the floor. Four of Akron's five losses have come during conference play, most recently falling at Northern Illinois, 62-56. The Zips also lead the MAC in assists (16.9), assist to turnover ratio (1.2) and defensive rebounds (28.5).
The game will air live on ESPN 1520 AM with Sloane Martin on the call, while a live webcast will be available. Fans can also follow along with live stats or live tweets.
