Women's Hoops Hosts Bowling Green In First Round Of The MAC Tournament Monday
3/6/2016 12:00:00β―AM | Women's Basketball
2016 WBB MAC TOURNAMENT BRACKET
GAME NOTES (.PDF)
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo women's basketball team (16-13, 8-10 MAC) will open up the Mid-American Conference first round on Monday at 5:30 pm as they play host to the Bowling Green Falcons. The Bulls earned the eight-seed while the Falcons enter as the nine-seed. The winner of Monday night's first round game will take on the top-seeded Ohio Bobcats on Wednesday at noon at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, OH in the MAC quarterfinals.
TICKET CENTRAL
Click here to get your tickets for Monday night's game against Bowling Green.
SCOUTING THE FALCONS
The Bowling Green Falcons enter Monday's first round MAC Tournament game as the nine-seed after closing out the regular season with a 10-17 overall record and a 6-12 MAC mark. The Falcons have lost two straight games including last time out at Akron by the score of 71-61. The Falcons are led offensively by Lauren Tibbs who is averaging 12.5 points and a team-best 6.9 rebounds while earning 25 blocks on the season. Sydney Lambert has had a nice season as she is averaging 9.6 points and 3.6 rebounds while Miriam Justinger is averaging 8.8 points, 4.1 rebounds and a team-high 2.3 assists. The Falcons are averaging 59.3 points/game while allowing 62.8 points/game.
BULLS HOST BG IN FIRST ROUND OF MAC TOURNAMENT
The Bulls closed out their regular season on Saturday afternoon in impressive fashion as they were able to down the Kent State Golden Flashes 63-47 in front of the home fans at Alumni Arena on Senior Day. With the win, the Bulls secured the eight-seed in the MAC Tournament and they will play host to the ninth-seeded Bowling Green Falcons. Monday will be the third time in just over three weeks that the two teams have faced off. The Bulls defeated the Falcons 63-50 on the road and won a tight meeting in Buffalo, 55-52. The winner of Monday's game will head to Cleveland and faceoff with the top-seeded Ohio Bobcats at 12pm on Wednesday afternoon.
UB SENDS SENIORS OUT WITH WIN OVER KENT STATE
The Bulls closed out the regular season on Saturday afternoon with a decisive victory over Kent State, 63-47. With the win, the Bulls secured their third straight season with 16 wins or more and their third straight winning season. The Bulls made easy work of the Golden Flashes on Saturday as UB has picked up victories in four of their last five games. UB used strong second and third quarters to pull away from the Flashes, outscoring them 32-14. Joanna Smith led all UB players with 14 points and six rebounds while freshman Brittany Morrison finished with nine points and a career-high 13 rebounds. The Bulls improved to 15-2 on the year when holding the lead entering the fourth quarter.
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 (169) than last season (148). The Bulls surpassed last seasons three-point total and have at least one more games remaining. Joanna Smith leads the Bulls in three-pointers with a career-high 85 while Stephanie Reid ranks second on the team with 22 and freshman Gabi Bade has netted 20 three-pointers. The Bulls offense is averaging 5.8 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 29 games this season and have notched 5+ three's in a game 21 times this season.
SMITH CLOSES OUT IMPRESSIVE REGULAR SEASON
Junior guard Joanna Smith continued to be the Bulls best player on Saturday as the Bulls were able to collect their 16th win of the season. Smith finished off her game with 14 points and six rebounds as she has now led the Bulls in scoring 22 times this season. On the year, she ranks fourth in the MAC in scoring (18.0 PPG) while also ranking second on the Bulls in rebounding (6.0 RPG). She also ranks second in the MAC in scoring in conference games (19.3 PPG) and third in three-pointers made (85). The sharp-shooter currently ranks 15th in the NCAA in three-pointers/game (2.9) and 15th in the NCAA in three-pointers made (85). The Bulls are 7-7 on the year when Smith notches 20+ points and she has notched 12 games of 20+ points in her last 20 games. She now ranks third in program history for three-pointers made in a season (85) and 10th in career three-pointer made (104). In MAC play, Smith is averaging 19.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game while playing a team-high 36.1 MPG. Smith has now recorded at least one three-pointer in 28 of 29 games this year and 3+ three-pointers in 18 of 29 games. Smith has been named MAC East Player of the Week four times this season, becoming the first UB player to earn the weekly award four times in a season since 2010-11 when Kourtney Brown earned the award five times.
REID ALL ABOUT IT
After some growing pains early in the season, sophomore point guard Stephanie Reid has been very consisent as of late. Following her dominant week for UB last week, Reid was named MAC East Player of the Week on Monday. Reid averaged 17.5 points, 7.0 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals while leading UB to a 2-0 record. Reid wasn't asked to be as big of a part of the offense on Saturday since the Bulls held the lead from the beginning until the end but the sophomore still scored seven points and dished out a game-high six assists in the win. In MAC play, Reid has played at another level as she is averaging 11.5 points, 5.3 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.8 steals while notching over five assists in 12 of the 18 conference games. Through 29 games this season, Reid has continued to prosper into one of the best point guards in the conference as she is averaging 10.3 points, 4.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals. The nifty point guard finished the regular season second in the MAC in assists/game in conference games (5.3 APG) and seventh in the MAC in steals/game (1.8 SPG). Reid's impact on the game goes deeper than just points and assists as the sophomore's leadership and calmness on the court are unmatched by most point guards in the conference.
MORRISON SNAGS CAREER-HIGH 13 BOARDS
The Bulls have been looking for a consistent third option offensively for the last month of the season and they may have just found that in freshman post player Brittany Morrison. The Ohio native has stepped into the starting lineup over the past five games and has made a huge impact as the Bulls are 4-1 in games that she starts. Last time out, Morrison wasn't as effective as she would have liked to be from the floor but her hustle on the boards really paid off for the Bulls. The freshman finished with nine points and a career-high 13 rebounds, seven offensive, as the Bulls were able to close the regular season with a win. Over the last five games, Morrison is averaging 6.2 points and a team-best 7.8 rebounds per contest while grabbing an average of 3.6 offensive rebounds/game.
HITTING THE OFFENSIVE GLASS
One of the strengths of the Bulls this season has been hitting the offensive glass as they are averaging 14.9 offensive rebounds/game on the season. Over the last seven games the Bulls have been going after the offensive rebounds at an even higher clip as they are averaging 19.4 offensive boards/game, going 5-2 over that span. The Bulls currently lead the MAC in offensive rebounding in MAC games, averaging 16.2/game. On the year, the Bulls have notched 27 games with at least 10 offensive rebounds. The Bulls have grabbed 20 offensive rebounds in consecutive games, turning those 20 offensive rebounds into 25 second chance points last time out in the Bulls regular season finale on Saturday at Alumni Arena.
FINDING THE RIGHT LINEUP
After going with the same lineup for the first seven games of the season, the Bulls began to tinker with their lineup in the middle of MAC play. UB has used a total of 10 different starting lineup combinations so far this season but have used the same lineup in their last five games, going 4-1 over that span. Stephanie Reid and Joanna Smith are the only UB players to start all 29 games this season. The Lineup of Stephanie Reid, Joanna Smith, Liisa Ups, Katherine Ups and Mirte Scheper has been used the most this season, nine times in 29 games.
BATTLE OF THE BOARDS
The Bulls have proved throughout this season that winning the battle on the boards was a key to winning games. This proved to be true on Saturday as the Bulls outrebounded Kent State, 43-35 en route to the 16-point victory. The Bulls are 14-4 on the year when winning the rebounding battle or being tied in rebounds and 2-9 when they are outrebounded. UB is averaging 40.2 RPG including 14.9 offensive boards/game. The Bulls finished the regular season leading the conference in offensive RPG (16.2). The Bulls currently rank third in the MAC in rebounding margin (+3.9 RPG).
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 15-2 record, with their last victory coming on Saturday against Kent State. 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 14-1 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 15 of 29 games, winning 14 of the 15 games in which they shot a higher percentage. Last time out the Bulls were able to pull out a victory despite only shotting 34.8% from the floor while the Flashes shot 40%. On the year, the Bulls are shooting 36% from the floor while their opponents are shooting 37.4%.
