Women's Basketball Tips Off Season Friday Night Vs. UMass At Alumni Arena
11/10/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BUFFALO GAME NOTES
UMASS GAME NOTES
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo women's basketball team will open up their 2016-17 regular season on Friday night at 7:00 pm as they welcome the UMass Minutewomen to Alumni Arena. Prior to the game Friday night, the Bulls will be unveiling their 2015-16 MAC Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance banner.
BULLS DROP MAC CHAMPIONSHIP BANNER ON FRIDAY
Coming off of their best season in program history in 2015-16, the UB women's basketball team opens up their title defense on Friday night at Alumni Arena as they welcome the UMass Minutewomen for a 7:00 pm showdown. Prior to the season opener, the Bulls will be unveiling their 2016 MAC Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament banners. The Bulls take on UMass for the second straight season after downing the Minutewomen on the road last season 56-48.
UB DOMINATES BLOOMSBURG IN EXHIBITION OPENER
The Bulls opened up their 2016-17 campaign on Friday night with an exhibition against the Bloomsburg Huskies at ALumni Arena and the defending MAC champs were impressive, picking up the 65-45 win. The Bulls had 12 players play at least 10 minutes while 11 of 12 scored and grabbed at least one rebound in the win. JoAnna Smith led all UB players with 14 points while Mariah Suchan had nine and Ayoleka Sodade finished with seven. Defensively UB forced 26 turnovers that they turned into 36 points while also outscoring the Huskies 26-12 in the paint.
HOME SWEET HOME FOR OPENERS
Buffalo has had a lot of success in home openers since the 1975-76 campaign as they own a 30-14 overall record playing in front of their home crowd. Since joining the Mid-American Conference in 1998-99 the Bulls have secured a 10-8 record in home openers. UB collected a dominant 55-38 win over LIU Brooklyn in last seasons opener at Alumni Arena.
HOME COOKIN'
The Bulls have been a great home team over the last three seasons under head coach Felisha Legette-Jack as they own a 26-13 record at Alumni Arena. UB hasn't lost more than five games at home in a season in the past three seasons as they finished 2015-16 with a 9-5 record on their home court. The UB offense is averaging 63.2 PPG over the last three seasons while their defense is holding its opponents to 59.4 PPG.
EXPERIENCED SQUAD
The Bulls return 10 letterwinners to a MAC Championship squad from a season ago. Buffalo returns all five starters to the lineup as Stephanie Reid, JoAnna Smith, Katherine Ups, Brittany Morrison and Cassie Oursler are all back for the Bulls. UB lost only one senior, Karin Moss, to graduation and three other bench players left the program. Buffalo is returning 90 percent of their scoring and 84 percent of their minutes played from a season ago as they look to regain their form that they showed late last season.
REPEAT AFTER ME
The UB women's basketball team is coming off of their first 20-win season since 1996-97 and their first-ever MAC Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance in 2015-16. The Bulls have steadily improved over their four seasons under head coach Felisha Legette-Jack as they went 12-20 in 2012-13; 17-13 in 2013-14; 19-13 in 2014-15 and 20-14 last season. The Bulls are looking to become the third team to win back-to-back MAC Championships and the first to do so since Bowling Green in 2010 and 2011. Buffalo is looking to become just the third program in MAC history to earn back-to-back championships, joining Bowiling Green and Toledo.
SMITH & REID NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MAC EAST
After very successful seasons in 2015-16, senior JoAnna Smith and junior Stephanie Reid were named to the preseason All-MAC East division team. Smith and Reid are the only set of teammates on the MAC east squad. Smith finished off her impressive junior campaign ranking fourth in the MAC in scoring (18.3 PPG) while Reid was one of the elite point guards in the conference as she ranked third in assists (5.1 APG) while also scoring a career-best 10.3 PPG.
PRESEASON PRAISE
The defending Mid-American Conference champions were selected to finish second in the MAC east in the preseason MAC Coaches Poll that was released last week. The Bulls received three first-place votes and 60 points, trailing just Ohio who had nine first-place votes and 69 points. Buffalo also earned one vote to win the regular season MAC Championship and one vote to win the MAC Tournament Championship.
MOST IMPROVED SCORER IN THE NCAA
Buffalo senior shooting guard JoAnna Smith flourished into a star last season as she was awarded the starting spot and was the vocal point of the UB offense. As a junior, Smith turned into one of the best players in the MAC and she was the most improved scorer in the nation as she went from 5.6 points/game as a sophomore to 18.3 points/game as a junior. The 12.7 points/game improvement was the best of any player in the NCAA last year. The scoring increase had a lot to do with Smith's ability to hit the outside shot as she set a program record for three-pointers in a season with 100.
NON-CONFERENCE STRENGTH
The Bulls have begun to have success in the non-conference portion of their schedule recently as over the past three seasons, UB owns a 22-13 record against non-conference foes. The Bulls were especially good against non-conference opponents last season as they owned a 8-4 record after starting the season off at 6-0.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
Over their last 10 MAC games last season, the Bulls defense held their foes to just 55.1 PPG while ranking third in the conference in turnovers forced (17.9/game) and steals (9.2/game). The stingy Buffalo defense held 10 opponents to 50 points or less last season while also ranking third in the MAC in blocks (3.1/game).
OURSLER EARNS YEAR OF ELIGIBILITY BACK
One of the biggest wins this offseason for the Bulls was Cassie Oursler winning her appeal on the season of competition waiver filed with the NCAA. Winning the appeal gave Oursler a year of eligibility back as she now has two seasons left at Buffalo under Felisha Legette-Jack's watchful eye. The Grand Island native earned her sophomore year back after playing in just two games at Robert Morris. Last season, Oursler appeared in 24 games after sitting out half of the season due to transfer rules and she finished the campaign averaging 8.0 PPG with a team-high 6.3 rebounds and 1.4 BPG. Oursler was able to make a huge difference on the defensive end of the court as she used her length to alter and block shots around the basket in the lane.
NOT YOUR AVERAGE JO
After ending her sophomore year on a high note, senior shooting guard JoAnna Smith exploded onto the scene last season for the Bulls as she became the go-to player and averaged a team-best 18.3 PPG. Ranking fourth in the MAC in scoring, Smith proved to be one of the most dangerous three-point shooters in the nation as she was able to make a program-record 100 three's as a junior. The Southaven, MS native earned first team All-MAC honors after breaking the 20-point plateau 16 times and making at least one three pointer in 33 of 34 games and three or more three's in 20 of 34 games. Smith picked up her play in the MAC Tournament as she averaged a team-best 19.0 PPG and 7.8 RPG over the four-game span, earning All-Tournament team honors.
REID ALL ABOUT IT
After some growing pains early in her sophomore campaign, Stephanie Reid turned into one of the best point guards in the MAC last season. The floor general capped her fantastic season with the game-winning shot at the buzzer in the MAC Championship game to give UB their first ever MAC title. On the year, Reid ranked second on the team in scoring (10.3 PPG) while ranking third in the MAC in assists (5.1 APG) and fourth in the MAC in steals (1.9 SPG). The Australia Native finished off the season earning third team All-MAC honors, All-Defensive team honors and MAC Tournament MVP honors while leading UB to their first NCAA Tournament game in program history. Reid's impact on the game goes much deeper than just points and assists as the junior's leadership and calmness on the court are unmatched by most point guards in the nation.
UPS, UPS AND AWAY
Entering their sophomore campaigns, twin sisters Liisa and Katherine Ups didn't know how much playing time to expect but both worked their way into the starting lineup. Katherine finished off her career-year starting 32 of 34 matches while averaging 5.6 points and 4.7 rebounds/game while leading UB to a 10-5 record in her final 15 starts of the season. Katherine's knowledge and defensive abilities was vital to the Bulls MAC Championship run. Liisa was able to start 16 of the first 17 games for the Bulls as she averaged 12.3 minutes/game, 2.0 points, 1.7 assists and 1.6 rebounds as she helped UB start the season off 6-0.
SOPHOMORE CLASS AIMS TO BUILD ON STRONG FINISH
The Bulls have three sophomore's on their roster this season who all contributed in big ways during the Bulls MAC Tournament run. Forward Brittany Morrison was a beast in the post for the Bulls down the stretch as she earned the start in UB's final nine games of the season and she averaged 4.3 points and 5.0 rebounds. The undersized forward led UB in rebounding 10 times while averaging 20.2 minutes, 5.4 points and 7.6 rebounds/game over the final 10 games of the season. Gabi Bade came up huge in the Bulls semifinal win over Akron as she came off the bench and replaced Stephanie Reid in the third quarter and led UB to victory as she netted 13 points and two assists in 17 minutes of action. On the year, Bade averaged 3.5 points and 2.3 rebounds.
SUCHAN PUSHING FOR INCREASED ROLE IN 2016-17
Junior forward Mariah Suchan turned into a solid bench player for the Bulls a season ago as she brought a strong/physical defensive game to the UB frontcourt. The Witchita, KS native averaged 16.5 minutes, 3.2 points and 4.0 rebounds/game off the bench. Suchan will be pushing for increased time on the floor this season after adding a three-point shot to her offensive repertoire in the off season which will make her a dangerous threat on both ends of the court this season.
FULL COURT PRESS
Junior forward Courtney Wilkins saw a steady increase in playing time down the stretch for the Bulls last season as the Australia native appeared in 30 games while averaging 3.1 points and 1.5 rebounds. The sharp-shooter was a consistant threat from behind the arc as a sophomore as she connected on 21 three-pointers including a crucial three at the buzzer of the first half against Central Michigan in UB's MAC Championship game victory. Wilkins has improved on the defensive end of the court this summer and will be relied upon off the bench for UB this season.
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK
The Bulls are welcoming four new players to the team for the 2016-17 campaign as Cierra Dillard joins the Bulls after transferring from UMass while Summer Helmphill, Theresa Onwuka and Lawrencia Moten are freshman. Dillard comes to Buffalo after two successful seasons at UMass, leading the Minutewomen in scoring last season (15.5 PPG) while starting 21 games. Hemphill is a highly-touted athletic forward out of Cardinal O'Hara high school in Buffalo. The athletic player was a first team All-WNY performer last season after averaging 16 PPG, 10 RPG and 3.1 SPG. Onwuka comes to Buffalo from Illinois where she was a standout at Lake Forest Academy as she led her team in every statistical category. Onwuka is a very gifted athlete with a high motor and upside. Moten, daughter of NBA veteran Lawrence Moten, sat out her senior season at Bullis School after averaging 11.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks/game as a junior. Moten is a very talented and long post player with an improving offensive game.
CHARITY STRIPE PROWESS
Having a point guard who can shoot free throws at a high percentage is a major plus for teams hoping to compete for championships and Buffalo has just that in junior Stephanie Reid. The Melbourne, Australia native has been great at the charity stripe for the Bulls over her career as she has made 117-of-150 attempts (78%), ranking third in program history for free throw percentage. Reid saw a steady improvement last season as she went 82-for-101 (81.2%) on the year, ranking seventh in the MAC.
