University at Buffalo
15-13, 7-10MAC
Akron
16-12,10-7MAC
Women's Hoops Drops Final Road Game Of Regular Season To Akron, 62-49
3/2/2016 12:00:00β―AM | Women's Basketball
AKRON, OH – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team was defeated on the road on Wednesday night by the Akron Zips, 62-49. The loss drops UB to 15-13 overall and 7-10 in MAC play but the Bulls can finish no lower than the eighth seed for the upcoming MAC Tournament and will host a first round game at Alumni Arena on Monday night.
"They were attacking the basket tonight and we weren't getting into the lane, that was the difference in the game tonight," said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "The second half was dramatically different than the first half and we didn't know how to adapt to that."
After a slow start offensively that saw the Zips pull ahead 7-2, Cassie Oursler began to take over down low as she finished the first quarter with six points and two offensive rebounds. With the score 13-8 in favor of the Zips, UB was able to end the opening quarter on an 8-2 run, capped off by a Karin Moss steal and layup at the buzzer of the first quarter to give UB their first lead of 16-15 after 10 minutes.
After taking the one-point lead at the buzzer of the first period, the Bulls extended their lead out to five at halftime as they played solid defense by forcing 10 first half turnovers from the Zips. Joanna Smith opened up the scoring in the second as she drilled a contested three-pointer. She then proceeded to net two more shots from deep to give the Bulls their biggest lead of the half, 25-19. After Akron cut the UB lead to one with a 5-0 spurt, the Bulls finished out the half with four straight points as Oursler finished off a fast break layup after a nice pass from Moss and Smith buried a fast break layup after a steal.
Smith finished the first half with 15 points and a team-high six boards while Oursler finished with eight points, four boards and two blocks. UB shot 35.1% from the floor in the first half while the Zips shot 33.3%. UB held the 16-12 edge in points in the paint after 20 minutes.
The Zips finished off the third quarter strong on Wednesday as they were able to go on a 12-6 run to finish the quarter and take the 46-42 lead into the final 10 minutes. After Reid and Oursler made back-to-back layups to give the Bulls the 33-27 lead the Zips came back with seven straight to take the 34-33 lead. Mariah Suchan drilled a three-pointer to give the Bulls the 36-34 lead before Akron finished the quarter strong to take the lead into the final quarter.
The Bulls were able to draw within three just minutes into the final quarter as Brittany Morrison made a strong move and finished a layup but the foul bug struck the Bulls after that. The Bulls saw Smith and Oursler foul out within the matter of minutes and the Zips pulled away. The Zips finished the game on a 14-4 run to collect the 62-49 win.
Smith finished off her strong game with her second double-doub le of the season as she went for 15 points and 11 rebounds while drilling three from behind the arc. Smith went over the 10-point plateau for the 24th time this season while also notching at least one three-pointer in 27 of 28 games. The junior now has attempted 237 three-pointers on the year, setting a program record for most three's attempted in a season.
Oursler had a strong game in the post for UB as she netted 10 points, seven rebounds and two blocks in 27 minutes. Morrison finished with eight points and four boards while Reid scored seven points, three assists and two rebounds. With her three assists tonight, Reid moved into ninth place in program history in assists in a season with 133, passing Margeaux Gupilan.
For the game, the Zips went to the free throw line 25 times compared to the Bulls four trips. Akron shot 40% for the game while UB only shot 29.2% in the loss. The Bulls won the turnover battle, 20-18, but were outrebounded 43-41 for the game.
The Bulls will return to the court on Saturday afternoon as they host Kent State on Senior Day at Alumni Arena. Tip is set for 2:00 pm as Karin Moss and Mackenzie Loesing will be honored before the game as part of Senior Day.
