Women's Basketball Heads To Miami (OH) On Saturday
1/22/2016 12:00:00β―AM | Women's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo, the State University of New York women's basketball team takes off to Oxford, Ohio, to take on the Miami RedHawks on Saturday, Jan. 23, seeking to shake off a three-game losing streak against a Mid-American Conference East Division opponent.
Despite scoring a season-high 78 points on 47.5 percent shooting Wednesday at Alumni Arena against the Western Michigan Broncos, the Bulls fell 92-78, dropping them to 2-4 in the conference.
Sophomore Stephanie Reid and junior Joanna Smith combined to score 49 points for the Bulls -- Reid with a career-high 25 points, and Smith two points shy of her career-high with 24 on a combined 18-for-33 from the floor with six 3's on 13 attempts. Reid tied a career-high set in the season opener with five steals while Smith dished out three assists.
The Bulls jumped out a nine-point lead in the first quarter, but the Broncos outscored UB by 10 in the second quarter to take a six-point halftime lead. WMU, the MAC's top three-point shooting team, went 5-for-7 from beyond the arc in the first half and 8-for-11 overall. Trailing by 14 in the third quarter and with Reid on the bench in foul trouble, Bulls' reserves Camera Miley and Ayoleka Sodade sparked the team to make it a two-possession game heading into the fourth. But Western's offense, which had been solid the entire game, putting up a season-high 92 points on the Bulls' defense, was too strong in the final frame as they outscored the blue and white 32 to 23.
The Bulls will take their 5-4 road record and try to put the loss behind them as they face a Miami team that is 1-5 in the MAC.
Reid Leads Offense
Reid was looking for her shot early on in the Western game, finishing with 20-plus points for the first time this season. Her performances against MAC opponents showcase her varied skill set at the point guard position: in 33 minutes a game against the conference, the Australian is putting up 13.3 points and 5.5 assists, which ranks second in the MAC, and 3.7 rebounds while shooting 43.9 percent from the floor and connecting on 44 percent from long range. The last four games she's poured in an average of 16.5 points for the Bulls who could use the boost offensively to support leading scorer, Joanna Smith. Smith reached 20-points in the WMU game for the 8th time this season while the two combined for two-thirds of the Bulls' offensive output versus Western.
The Bulls offense as a whole is benefiting from Reid's increased production against MAC teams. They're scoring 67 points against the conference, which is up from 59.2 for the entire season.
Scouting the RedHawks
Miami enters the contest on a four-game MAC losing streak. Their conference win came against Northern Illinois at Millett Hall Jan. 6 by a score of 66-60. Most recently they dropped a contest to Central Michigan, 72-58. Miami is 5-5 at home this season.
The RedHawks are similar to the Bulls in that they depend on underclassmen for major contributions. Freshmen and sophomores are playing more than 90 percent of the team's minutes, per Miami sports information. Sophomore Baleigh Reid leads the team in scoring with 15.3 points on average, but is at 11.5 against MAC competition. The second-leading scorer, Leah Purvis, is the team's assist leader with 40 on the season, while adding 9.5 points. As a team they're shooting 40.9 percent and scoring 62.8 per game and holding opponents to 38.8 percent shooting.
Where UB Ranks in the MAC…
-2nd in scoring defense (59.9 per game)
-4th in field goal percentage defense (36.9)
-4th in three-point field goal percentage defense (39.6)
-2nd in steals (9.7)
-4th in turnover margin (0.59)
-4th in offensive rebounds (13.9)
In MAC Play...
- Joanna Smith: 2nd in scoring (21.0), 5th in steals (2.0), T-2nd three-point field goals per game (3.5)
- Stephanie Reid: 2nd in assists per game (5.5), T-2nd in steals (2.3), T-7th three-point field goal percentage (44.4), T-9th assist-to-turnover ratio (1.7).
