19-12
Ohio
26-4
Bulls Bow Out to Ohio in MAC Tournament Semifinal
3/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
CLEVELAND, OH – The fourth-seeded University at Buffalo, State University of New York women's basketball team suffered a 63-55 setback to top-seeded Ohio in the Mid-American Conference Tournament semifinals Friday at Quicken Loans Arena.
During the Bulls' (19-12) second MAC semifinal appearance in program history, UB had the Bobcats (26-4) within one at the three-minute mark of the second. After trailing 52-47 at 5:14, junior Mackenzie Loesing and sophomore Alexus Malone posted back-to-back buckets to sneak within 52-51. But that's as close as the Bulls would get.
Though the Bobcats led for 30:19, including the entire second half, it was a one-possession game on six occasions over the final 10 minutes of play.
Ohio answered with a three, before Malone hit a pair from the line 1:24 later. The Bobcats responded with a Lexie Baldwin layup and would outscore UB, 6-2, at the line over the final 39 seconds to seal the win.
"I'm really proud of this young group of people," said third-year head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "We're on our way somewhere, somewhere up top, because these young ladies are resilient enough to continue to fight."
Malone kicked out a pass to senior Kristen Sharkey to open the game with a three as the Bulls jumped out to a 7-2 gap at 16:35. A Mariah Byard three sparked a 7-0 Ohio run, but Sharkey and Loesing pieced together five straight to regain what proved to be the Bulls' final advantage, 12-9, at 11:30. Sophomore Joanna Smith went 2-for-2 from the arc to twice pull UB within two in the final 5:19, but a Baldwin drained one of her own to take a 27-22 gap into the locker room. Neither team scored in the final 2:46 of the first.
Loesing led the Bulls with 14 points, while Sharkey and Smith added 12 apiece. Smith went 4-for-6 from three, a career-high performance. Malone chipped in eight and a team-best nine rebounds. Smith and senior Christa Baccas grabbed eight boards each and Sharkey had seven.
Freshman Stephanie Reid dished out six assists, Baccas made five blocks and Smith swiped four steals. Baccas pulled within 11 of the school record with 249 career blocks.
Baldwin, Byard and Kiyanna Black scored 13 points each for the Bobcats. Quiera Lampkins had eight boards and Baldwin seven. Kat Yelle made eight assists, while Lampkins had a trio of blocks.
The Bobcats, who outscored the Bulls 32-12 in the paint, outshot UB 39.3 percent to 35.1 percent from the floor, though UB edged them from deep. The Bulls connected on 47.4 percent from the arc on 9-for-19 shooting, despite Ohio leading the league in three-point field goal defense. Ohio, the best three-point shooting the team in the MAC, went 8-for-25 from three-point range.
Neither team was granted the opportunity to hit a free throw in the first half. Just seven fouls were called – none of which were shooting. The Bulls finished 6-for-7 from the line and Ohio went 7-for-10.
The duo, who had never played each other in the tournament, is now knotted 16-16 in the all-time series. Ohio won its fourth straight against UB to snap the Bulls' four-game winning streak dating back to Feb. 28.
The Bulls await a possible invitation to postseason play with announcements being made Monday evening.
