Women's Basketball Heads To Duquesne For Their First Road Game
11/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo women's basketball team (3-0, 0-0 MAC) hits the road for the first time on Tuesday afternoon as they travel to Pittsburgh, PA for a showdown with the Duquesne Dukes. The Bulls will look for revenge against Duquesne as the Dukes handed UB a 79-62 defeat at Alumni Arena last season. Game time is set for 1:00 pm at the A.J. Palumbo Center.
BULLS HEAD TO DUQUESNE FOR FIRST ROAD TEST
The Bulls will hit the road for the first time this season on Tuesday afternoon as they travel to Atlantic 10 power Duquesne for a 1:00 pm game. Buffalo puts their 3-0 record on the line against the Dukes who have won three straight after dropping their season opener at Ohio State. The Bulls owned a 7-9 road record last season after starting the season 3-0 away from home.
BUFFALO DOMINATES MANHATTAN TO MOVE TO 3-0
The Bulls stayed hot on Saturday afternoon as they welcomed the Manhattan Jaspers to Alumni Arena and handed them the 73-39 defeat. The 34-point victory for UB was their biggest since Jan. 1, 2014 when they won by 35, 93-58, over Roberts Wesleyan. The Bulls are now 3-0 on the season for the second straight season as all 13 players notched at least a basket in the win while 11 grabbed at least one rebound. Gabi Bade led the way with 11 points while JoAnna Smith finished with 10 in the win.
NON-CONFERENCE STRENGTH
The Bulls have begun to have success in the non-conference portion of their schedule recently as over the past 3+ seasons, UB owns a 25-13 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. The Bulls are 3-0 against non-conference foes so far this season as they are winning by an average of 19.3 PPG.
THE PINE IS FINE
The Buffalo bench continued to produce on Saturday afternoon against Manhattan as they were able to score a season-high 49 points. The Bulls won the bench battle 49-19 as Gabi Bade led all bench players with 11 points. The Bulls saw all eight of their bench players score at least one basket as Theresa Onwuka netted nine points while Lawrencia Moten finished with a career-high seven points in the first action of her career. UB improved to 3-0 this season when their bench outscores their opponents bench.
FRESHMAN PHENOM
Freshman forward Summer Hemphill continued her high level of play off the Buffalo bench on Saturday afternoon as she finished with nine points, eight rebounds and a career-high four steals in the win. Hemphill has proved to be a threat in the open court by using her athleticism to beat defenders down the court for easy buckets. The lengthy forward has also used her huge wingspan to hassle opposing players as she forced a career-best four steals on Saturday. Through her first three career games, Hemphill is averaging 10.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.7 steals and 1.0 assists.
NOT YOUR AVERAGE JO
After a strong showing on Wednesday against Niagara, JoAnna Smith finished off Saturday's win with 10 points, four rebounds and two steals over only 20 minutes of action as the Bulls had the game in hand all the way through. Smith scored seven of her 10 in the first half as she was awarded UB Athlete of the Week honors after averaging 15.0 points and 4.5 rebounds over the Bulls 2-0 week. Smith was able to net a pair of threes in the win over Manhattan and has now connected on at least one three pointer in 38 of her last 39 games and at least three triples in 23 of her last 39 games. The Southaven, MS native currently ranks seventh in program history in three-pointers made with 126 and sits just six triples away from fifth place.
BAD(E) TO THE BONE
Sophomore Gabi Bade has proved to be a legitamate scoring threat off the Buffalo bench over her two-year career and she continued to impress on Saturday as she led UB with 11 points. The sharpshooter was instant offense as she netted four first quarter points and six second quarter points to lead UB with 10 points at the break. The sophomore also grabbed three rebounds while notching one assist and one steal in 18 minutes of action. UB improved to 4-1 over the past two seasons when Bade nets at least 10 points.
ONWUKA HAS CAREER DAY
After playing sparingly over her first two career games, freshman Theresa Onwuka exploded on Saturday for a career-high nine points, three rebounds and three steals over a career-high 16 minutes of action. The athletic guard shined in the win over Manhattan as she was able to slice into the lane and score some easy layups. The Nigeria native came off the bench in the second quarter and scored seven quick points as she went 3-for-4 from the floor in just three minutes of action. Onwuka finished off her career day with a career-best three steals that led to six UB points.
ALL 13 PLAYERS SCORE IN WIN OVER MANHATTAN
The depth of the 2016-17 Bulls can't be understated as they regularly will go to a 13-person rotation. The Bulls saw 13 players score at least one basket, marking the most players to score in a single game since Felisha Legette-Jack took over the Bulls in 2012-13. Leading the way was Gabi Bade who netted a team-high 11 points while Theresa Onwuka and Lawrencia Moten finished with nine and seven points, respectively. Summer Hemphill scored nine bench points while 11 UB players snagged at least one rebound in the win.
OURSLER CONTINUES STRONG PLAY
After a strong start to the season, junior Cassie Oursler wasn't asked to do much on Saturday as they Bulls controlled the game from the opening tip. The Grand Island, NY native finished off her game with two points, five rebounds and a steal in just 12 minutes of action. All five of Oursler's rebounds came in the first half on Saturday. Dating back to last season, Oursler has scored in double figures in six of her last 10 games while recording at least one block in 11 of 13 as she has turned into a defensive stopper inside the paint for UB.
REID ALL ABOUT IT
Junior point guard Stephanie Reid hasn't had the start to the season that she hoped for but the floor general has still led her team to a 3-0 start for the second straight season. The Melbourne, Australia native finished off the Bulls win over Manhattan on Saturday with two points, six assists and a steal in just 14 minutes of action. Reid's six assists in the win moved her into 14th place in program history in career assists (254), one assist shy of 13th place. Despite the poor showing, Reid is one of the best point guards in the conference as she capped her fantastic sophomore season with the game-winning shot at the buzzer in the MAC Championship game to give UB their first ever MAC title.
MORRISON'S GAME CONTINUES TO GROW
Sophomore forward Brittany Morrison has been a force for the Bulls since being inserted into the starting lineup late last season. The undersized forward has injected a spark into the Bulls lineup as UB has earned a 10-2 record over Morrison's last 12 starts. The North Ridgeville, OH native is averaging 19.5 minutes, 5.0 points and 7.0 rebounds over her 12 career starts and finished off Saturday's game with four points, four rebounds and two steals in 17 minutes off the bench.
UPS, UPS AND AWAY
Earning the starting nod for the second straight season at the small forward position, Katherine Ups was very impressive in the season opening win over UMass as she netted a career-high 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds. On Saturday, Ups was a big contributing factor to the Bulls 34-point victory as she netted eight points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists over 24 minutes of action. On the year, Ups ranks fourth on the team in scoring as she is averaging 8.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 2.0 steals while starting all three games.
SUCHAN PUSHES FOR PLAYING TIME
Entering the season as a reserve hasn't slowed down the development of junior Mariah Suchan as she was awarded her first start of the season on Saturday after a strong outing against Niagara. The Witchita, KS native grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds against Niagara so the coaching staff gave her the start on Saturday and she produced two points and two rebounds in 16 minutes while being a defensive stopper for the stingy Buffalo defense.
CLEANING THE GLASS
One of the keys to the Bulls success last season was winning the battle of the boards and this continued to be true in the Bulls win over Manhattan on Saturday. The Bulls improved to 3-0 on the year and 20-4 over the past two seasons when winning the rebounding battle. The Bulls completely dominated the glass as they held the 48-30 edge in rebounds including a 22-8 edge in offensive rebounds. Buffalo was also able to notch 18 second chance points off of 22 offensive rebounds.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
The strength of the Bulls over the past two seasons has been their defense and that has continued early on this season as UB improved to 3-0 on the year after holding Manhattan to 39 points on Saturday. The UB defense held the Jaspers to 30.4% shooting while also forcing 26 turnovers and scoring 25 points off of those turnovers. The Bulls held Manhattan to a season-low 16 points in the first quarter as the Bulls earned the 24-point first half lead. Buffalo improved to 27-7 over the last two seasons when holding their opponents under 70 points and 12-0 when holding their opponents to scoring 50 points or less. The 39 points scored against were the fewest since UB held LIU Brooklyn to 38 points last season in the season opener on Nov. 14, 2015.
RUNNING WITH THE BULLS
The Bulls haven't been known to be a team that likes to get out on the fast break and run but that trend has begun to change early on this season with the addition of some athletic and talented freshman. The Bulls held the 10-0 edge in fast break points on Saturday as they improved to 3-0 on the year when winning this category. Over the three wins, UB owns a 28-4 edge in fast break points.
SHOOTING FOR THE STARS
One of the keys to success for the Bulls over the past couple of seasons under head coach Felisha Legette-Jack has been shooting a better percentage from the floor than their opponents and this continued to be tru on Saturday. The Bulls outshot the Jaspers 37.1% to 30.4% for the game as they improved to 3-0 this season when shooting a higher percentage from the floor. Buffalo is now 20-1 over the past two seasons when shooting a higher percentage from the floor.
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 123-of-160 attempts (76.9%), ranking fifth 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
