Bulls Shoot for 20-Win Season & Spot in Title Game Friday Against Ohio
3/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
UB vs. Ohio Game Notes | UB Postseason Guide
CLEVELAND, OH – The fourth-seeded University at Buffalo, State University of New York women's basketball team will face top-seeded Ohio in the semifinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament Friday at noon at Quicken Loans Arena.
The game will air live on ESPN 1520 AM with Sloane Martin on the call and Jon Fuller providing color commentary. The game will be televised on Time Warner Cable Sports – Buffalo and will be live streamed by ESPN3. Fans can also follow along with live stats or live tweets.
For the second straight season, the Bulls locked in the four seed, their highest in program history. UB clinched its second-ever trip to the MAC semifinals with a 63-60 victory over fifth-seeded Western Michigan on Thursday. UB, who first advanced to the semifinal round in 2009, is looking for its first title game appearance and its 20th win. The Bulls are 8-16 in the MAC Tournament since entering the conference in 1998-99.
The Bulls own a slight 16-15 edge in the all-time series against the Bobcats. Ohio has claimed three straight, snapping a four-game UB winning streak. The Bulls won the inaugural MAC matchup, 73-71, on Feb. 6, 1999 at Ohio, while most recently, the Bobcats defeated UB, 78-70, in Athens on Feb. 25. The pair have never faced one another in the postseason.
The Bulls (19-11), who have won four straight, are shooting 37.3 percent from the field, have a three-point showing of 25.4 and a free throw percentage of 66.5. Leading the MAC in steals (10.8), offensive rebounds (16.0) and blocks (4.0) per game, UB leads its opponents averaging 64.8 points and 42.1 boards per game.
Monday, senior Christa Baccas was named MAC Defensive Player of the Year and junior Mackenzie Loesing MAC Sixth Player of the Year, while senior Kristen Sharkey was named to the All-MAC Second Team. Loesing also earned third-team nods and Baccas was named an honorable mention.
With eight double-doubles, Sharkey paces UB with 14.4 points and 8.2 boards per outing to go with and 46 steals, while shooting a team-best 77.5 percent at the line. Loesing is averaging 13.6 points per game and has 40 threes on the year. Sophomore Alexus Malone is posting 10.7 points and 7.7 rebounds a contest. She has seven double-doubles and chips in 43 assists and a team-best 49 steals. Baccas is contributing 8.0 points per game to help guide the balanced UB offense, and pulls down 7.9 boards per contest. Ranking second all-time at UB and 13th nationally among active Division I student-athletes with 424 blocks, Baccas has 56 to lead the conference this season. Freshman Stephanie Reid has a Bull-best 58 assists in 17 games played. Sharkey adds 50 and Baccas 48.
The Bobcats (25-4) lead the league in six categories: scoring margin (+14.5), field goal percentage defense (34.1), three-point field goals made (9.3), three-point field goal percentage (35.1), three-point field goal percentage defense (26.8) and turnover margin (+5.5). Averaging 70.9 points per game, Ohio shoots 41.5 percent from the floor and 65.6 percent at the charity stripe. All-MAC First-Team selection Kiyanna Black paces the Bobcats with 15.9 points per game, while Quiera Lampkins chips in 12.9 and Mariah Byard 9.7. Lampkins pulls down 6.7 rebounds per game and Lexie Baldwin adds 6.1. Black leads the league with 92 threes, 3.2 per outing. She has a Bobcat-best 50 steals, while Kat Yelle and Lampkins dish out 74 assists each.
The winner of UB and Ohio will play the winner of second-seeded Ball State and sixth-seeded Eastern Michigan in the championship game Saturday at 1 pm.
For ticket, hotel and additional information, please visit UB's ticket central website.
