Women's Hoops Looks To Punch Ticket To The Big Dance On Saturday
3/11/2016 12:00:00β―AM | Women's Basketball
CLEVELAND, OH - After securing their first ever trip to the Mid-American Conference Championship game, the University at Buffalo women's basketball team sets their sights on Central Michigan on Saturday at 1:00 pm at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. After knocking off top-seeded Ohio and fifth-seeded Akron, the Bulls now look to pull another upset as they get set to battle with second-seeded Central Michigan.
The Bulls turned in their most impressive game of the season in the semifinals as they were able to hold off the tough Akron team, earning the 88-87 victory. When starting point guard Stephanie Reid fouled out, it seemed as though the Bulls would have an uphill battle but freshman Gabi Bade stepped into the point guard role and flourished. Bade came into the game in the third quarter and handled the point with poise of a four-year starter, finishing off the game with 13 points and three triples. The UB bench was the story of the game as they outscored the Zips bench 37-26. Mariah Suchan finished with a career-high 11 points and six boards while Ayoleka Sodade went for a career-best six points, four rebounds and finished off the game-winning layup with five seconds remaining. The Bulls were also able to win the rebounding battle for the third straight game, 51-37.
The Chippewas enter Saturday's championship game after downing Eastern Michigan, 86-71, in the MAC semifinals. The Chippewas overcame a 13-point deficit from the first half to earn the big victory and improve to 22-9 on the year. Cassie Breen led the way with 24 points and four rebounds while draining eight three-pointers. Tinara Moore finished off her double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds while the Chippewas outscored the Eagles 49-30 in the second half.
The Bulls and Chippewas met earlier this season in Buffalo with the Bulls pulling out the 67-61 victory in front of the home fans at Alumni Arena. Joanna Smith led the way for the Bulls in their first meeting as she finished with 21 points and seven rebounds while Brittany Morrison came off the bench and had a huge impact, finishing with her first career double-double, 13 points and 10 rebounds. The Bulls held the Chippewas to 34.4% shooting and forced 16 turnovers that the Bulls turned into 15 points.
THREE'S COMPANY
The three-point shot has become a bigger part of the UB offense this season opposed to last as the Bulls have already made more three-pointers this season (187) than last season (148). The Bulls surpassed last seasons three-point total and have at least one more game remaining. Joanna Smith leads the Bulls in three-pointers with a career-high 92 while Stephanie Reid ranks second on the team with 23 and freshman Gabi Bade has netted 23 three-pointers as well. The Bulls offense is averaging 6.0 three-pointers/game so far this season while taking an average of 20.2/game. Five UB players have made at least 10 three-pointers this season. As a team, the Bulls have netted at least one three-pointer in all 32 games this season and have notched 5+ three's in a game 23 times this season.
BENCH PRODUCTION
The Buffalo bench produced when they needed them the most on Friday afternoon as starting point guard and the teams second leading scorer fouled out in the third quarter. The Bulls turned to a pair of freshman to give them production in the second half as Gabi Bade took over at point guard and netted 13 second half points while Ayoleka Sodade contributed six points and four rebounds including the game-winning layup with five seconds remaining. Mariah Suchan also played a great game for UB as she netted 11 points and six boards while Courtney Wilkins had five second quarter points. The Bulls bench scored 37 points on Friday
19 AND COUNTING
With their win yesterday, the Bulls improved to 19-13 overall on the season and securing their second straight 19 win season under Felisha Legette-Jack. The Bulls have now collected three straight seasons with 17+ wins under coach Jack. The growth of the program has been huge since Legette-Jack has taken the reins and it has been evident in the win column for the Bulls. Prior to Coach Jack taking over, the Bulls had three seasons of 17 or more wins since 1999. In four seasons under Coach Jack, the Bulls have collected the same number of 17-win seasons as the previous 14 seasons. Coach Jack owns a career record of 67-59 at the helm of the Bulls. UB has also picked up at least eight conference wins in all four seasons under Coach Jack. The Bulls are making their first MAC finals appearance in program history.
GETTING TO THE CHARITY STRIPE
After struggling to get to the charity stripe down the stretch of the regular seasn, the Bulls were able to make a season-high 19 freebies in the MAC quarterfinals and backed that up by making 17 in the semifinals against Akron. Down the stretch on Friday, the Bulls made some huge free throws that helped close out the game. The Bulls improved to 11-7 on the year when making at least 10 free throws in a game.
FINDING THE RIGHT LINEUP
After going through 10 different lineup combinations throughout the regular season, it seems as though the Bulls have found the right combination in the starting lineup. The Bulls have used the same lineup, Stephanie Reid, Joanna Smith, Katherine Ups, Brittany Morrison and Cassie Oursler, for the past eight games and the Bulls have won seven of those eight. The starting group has led the Bulls through the first three rounds of the MAC Tournament as they are averaging 54.2 points/game in the three victories. Last time out against the Zips, the starting five contributed 51 points.
BATTLE OF THE BOARDS
The Bulls have proved that one of their strengths this season is rebounding and in particular, offensive rebounding. The Bulls are currently averaging 40.8 rebounds per game including a MAC-leading 15.2 offensive rebounds per game. The Bulls have been hitting the offensive glass at a higher rate as of late as over their last eight games the Bulls are averaging 19.3 offensive boards while going 8-2 over that span. On the year, the Bulls have notched 29 games with at least 10 offensive rebounds. The Bulls are 16-4 on the year when winning the rebounding battle or being tied in rebounds and 2-9 when they are outrebounded.
HOLDING STRONG
One key factor to success for the Bulls has been earning the lead before the fourth quarter begins and UB has been pretty successful with that so far. When UB holds the lead heading into the final 10 minutes, they hold a 18-2 record, with their last victory coming on Friday against Akron. If the Bulls are trailing as they enter the final quarter, they own a 1-11 record with their lone come-from-behind fourth quarter victory coming against Central Florida, when they were down two heading into the fourth. When the Bulls are leading with five minutes to go, they own a 17-1 record on the year as they have proved they can close out games down the stretch. UB has claimed just one win (1-11) when trailing with five minutes left in the game.
SHOOTING FOR THE STARS
One of the keys to every game is shooting a high percentage from the floor and the Bulls have proved that winning the field goal percentage battle will win you games. The Bulls have shot a higher percentage from the floor than their opponents in 17 of 32 games, winning 16 of the 17 games in which they shot a higher percentage. Last time out the Bulls were outshot (44.1% - 43.7%) by the Zips but the Bulls pulled out the win. On the year, the Bulls are shooting 36.5% from the floor while their opponents are shooting 37.2%.
