Women's Hoops Set Sights On Four-Game Winning Streak Wednesday At Akron
3/1/2016 12:00:00β―AM | Women's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo women's basketball team, coming off a convincing win over the Mid-American Conference's first place team, heads to Akron, Ohio to face the University of Akron Zips, Wednesday, March 2 at 8 pm, chasing down as high a seed for the MAC postseason tournament as they can grab.
The Bulls embark on the month of March -- the most important month in college basketball -- after a resurgent 5-3 February. With just two regular season games left, UB is holding on to eighth place in the MAC which, if the season ended today, would give them a home first round MAC postseason tournament game Monday, March 7. They currently have a one-game lead (and the head-to-head tiebreaker) over ninth place Bowling Green.
Wednesday's game against the Zips is crucial because a win would prevent them from going 2-0 against Buffalo in the regular season, and therefore, owning an important tiebreaker if they did end up with the same conference record.
UB, which has won four of the past five games and three in a row, is riding high after a 70-58 win over the Ohio Bobcats. The Bobcats entered the game ranked No. 35 in RPI and were winning conference games by an average of 18 points. With the victory, the Bulls have gone 2-0 against OU; the rest of the MAC is 0-14.
Point guard Stephanie Reid and shooting guard Joanna Smith finished with 21 points apiece in the decisive win on 12-for-29 shooting. They combined to go 12-for-12 from the foul line. Katherine Ups was poured in 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting -- the first time she's reached double figures since Jan. 30 versus Northern Illinois. Freshman power forward Brittany Morrison grabbed nine rebounds. Mariah Suchan scored six points on 3-for-4 shooting off the bench.
In both games the Bulls' defense forced the MAC's top offense to shoot 28 percent from the field while allowing fewer than 60 points.
"We've just kept working hard," Reid said postgame. "We just want to get better every day. The best teams will get better towards the end of the season and that's when they peak. It all doesn't matter until postseason and that's when we're really going to come through. I think we're an incredible team and we're really getting better everyday. We're just going to be one of those teams this postseason teams will have to watch out for."
The Bulls aren't quite in the postseason yet but they need to keep playing like they are to close out the regular season strong to maintain position for a home playoff game next week.
Reid All About It
The Australian is a fill-the-stat sheet point guard but when she scores to support leading scorer Joanna Smith while lifting the team with her playmaking, the Bulls are in a good place. The sophomore's been named the MAC East Player of the Week for the first time in her career after wins against Bowling Green and Ohio in which she averaged a team-best 17.5 points, 7 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals. Reid played 76 of a possible 80 minutes this week including all 40 minutes against Ohio.
The win over the Bobcats was her best in a Bulls' uniform and she came close to the program's first triple-double since 2001: 21 points, a career-high eight assists (and just one turnover), seven rebounds and three steals.
With Joanna Smith's four, a Bull has garnered Player of the Week nods five times this season.
Bringing the Defense
Buffalo's defense of late has mimicked what it was the first couple weeks of the season when the Bulls' top-50 ranked defense (per points allowed) propelled them to one of the best starts in program history. The last four games they've allowed 55, 39, 52 and 51 points.
In a stacked and talented conference, UB's defensive numbers slipped to begin the MAC portion of the season, but they've rebounded to sit fourth in points allowed against MAC opponents (63.1) and second overall this season (59.5; and 0.5 points out of first place). The 39-point output by Miami Feb. 20 was the second lowest points total the Bulls have allowed this season; LIU-Brooklyn put up 38 in the season opener. The Bobcats, most recently, entered the game Saturday scoring almost 80 points per contest, but UB held them to 58. Buffalo is 10-2 when opponents score 59 or fewer points.
Last Time Out
UB dropped its only meeting with the Zips this season back on Jan. 16 at Alumni Arena, 69-61. The Bulls trailed by 14 points in the fourth quarter and were able to make it a two-possession game with 37 seconds left, but couldn't pull it out.
Akron featured a pair of 20-plus point scorers in Anita Brown and Hannah Plybon. Three Bulls (Reid, Smith and Cassie Oursler) reached double figures, but shot under 30 percent from the floor as a team, including 5-for-23 from three. The Bulls scored 23 second chance points off 17 offensive rebounds.
Scouting the Zips
Akron is two games up on the Bulls in the standings at 9-7 and sit behind Ohio in the MAC East Division. The Zips rank third in the MAC scoring 69.6 points per game while connecting on 38 percent from the floor, but tenth in scoring defense allowing 71.4 points to opponents, who shoot 40.7 percent.
Three average double-figures for the Zips, led by the MAC's leading scorer, Anita Brown. She puts up an average of 21.3 points per game on 42 percent shooting. Hannah Plybon shoots 34 percent from three en route to 16.4 points. DiAndra Gibson, who ranks fourth in the MAC connecting on 38 percent from long range, is scoring 10.5 points per game. Point guard Megan Barilla leads the MAC in assists (5.3) and is third with a 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 pm Wednesday at Rhodes Arena in Akron, Ohio. Join me, Sloane Martin, for the pregame show at 7:30 on ESPN 1520 and streaming online.
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