Bulls Host Northern Illinois On Play4Kay Day At Alumni Arena Saturday
2/10/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo women's basketball team returns to the court on Saturday afternoon as they welcome the Northern Illinois Huskies to Alumni Arena for a conference showdown. The Bulls and Huskies will tip at 2:00 pm with the Bulls wearing pink warm up shooting shirts as it will be Play4Kay day at Alumni Arena on Saturday. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to the game as well.
The game will air live on ESPN3 with Paul Peck and Amy Audibert on the call or it can be listened to live on ESPN1520 with Matt Mattia on the call.
BULLS LOOK TO DETHRONE FIRST PLACE HUSKIES
The Bulls stay at Alumni Arena on Saturday afternoon as they look for their second straight win on their home court as the high-scoring Northern Illinois Huskies come to town. The Bulls are 10-2 at home this season as they look to secure their seventh MAC win of the season after having a week off between games. The game will air live on ESPN3 with Paul Peck and Amy Audibert on the call or can be heard on the radio on ESPN1520 with Matt Mattia on the call starting at 1:30 pm with the pre game show.
BUFFALO RUNS PAST KENT STATE AT HOME ON SATURDAY
The Bulls had a great bounce back game on Saturday afternoon in front of their home fans as they were able to down the Kent State Golden Flashes, 77-62. The Bulls put together one of their best outings of the season as they shot 47.5% from the floor while dominating the fast break scoring, 21-2. Senior JoAnna Smith exploded for a career-high 31 points as she finished off the game going 13-for-21 from the floor. Junior Courtney Wilkins returned to the floor on Saturday and had her best game of the season as she netted 13 points on 5-for-7 from the floor and 3-for-5 from behind the arc. Stephanie Reid continued her steady play as she finished with 12 points, five assists and a steal in just 20 minutes of work.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Bulls have turned into a great home team since head coach Felisha Legette-Jack took over the program just over four seaons ago. The Bulls own a 14-2 record at Alumni Arena over their last 16 games and they have accumulated a 10-2 record this season. The 10 home wins this season are the most in a regular season since 2000-01 when they earned 12 home wins. Over the past 3+ seasons, UB owns a 36-16 record in from of their home crowd and they haven't lost more than five games in a season at Alumni Arena. At home this season, UB is averaging 70.4 points while allowing their opponents to average just 57.6 points and 36.0% shooting from the floor.
FAMILIAR FOE
This marks the 23rd meeting of all-time between the two programs with the Huskies holding the 14-8 edge in the series. UB has won six of the last seven in the series with their lone loss coming last season in DeKalb as the Huskies buried a game-winning three pointer at the buzzer.
CLEANING THE GLASS
One of the keys to the Bulls success this season has been winning the battle on the boards. UB was able to outrebound the Golden Flashes on Saturday, 37-33, and it resulted in a 15-point victory. UB is 14-4 on the year and 31-8 over the past two seasons when winning or tying the rebounding battle. As a team, UB ranks 2nd in the MAC and 21st in the NCAA in rebounds per game (43.0/game).
BULLS RANK 11TH IN NATION IN OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING
Buffalo has been getting after the offensive glass all season long and this continued on Saturday as they snagged 12 offensive rebounds in the win over Kent State. The Bulls turned those 12 offensive rebounds into 10 second chance points. UB has now won or tied the offensive rebounding battle in 18 of their 22 games this season. On the year, UB ranks 11th in the NCAA in offensive rebounds (16.9/game) and 25th in rebound margin (+7.4). Buffalo has held 18 opponents and 15 of their last 16, to 10 second chance points or less this season. The rebounding effort by the Bulls has been impressive as they are limiting their last 15 opponents to just 9.8 offensive rebounds/game while averaging 16.7 themselves.
SMITH CONTINUES TO RISE ALL-TIME SCORING CHARTS
After becoming just the 23rd player in UB history to notch their 1,000th point at Ohio earlier this season, senior JoAnna Smith had her best scoring night of her UB career as she netted a career-best 31 points on 13-for-21 from the floor. The senior sits in 10th place on UB's all-time scoring charts with 1,209 career points and she now sits just 34 points shy of former teammate MacKenzie Loesing for 9th place on the charts. Smith also sits in 3rd place on UB's all-time three pointers made charts as she has connected on 175 through 111 career games.
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. The Bulls were able to shoot the ball very well on Saturday as they outshot the Golden Flashes 47.5% to 37.7% in the win. With the win, Buffalo improved to 13-0 this season and 30-1 over the past two seasons when shooting a higher percentage from the floor than their opponents.
DEFENSE GETS BACK ON TRACK
The strength of the Bulls over the past two seasons has been their defense and that strong defense has helped UB gather a 16-6 record to start the season. The Buffalo defense got back on track on Saturday after a down game against Toledo last time out. UB held the Golden Flashes to 37.7% shooting and just 62 points while forcing 20 turnovers that UB turned into 18 points.The Bulls rank 3rd in the MAC in scoring defense as they are allowing just 61.1 points/game. Buffalo is 39-7 over the last two seasons when holding their opponents under 70 points and are 18-0 when holding their opponents to scoring 50 points or less over the past two seasons. UB is also 12-0 this season when holding their opponents to 59 points or less.
DOMINATE THE PAINT
Playing for a coach that dominated the paint throughout her very successful career, the talented Bulls have begun to take a page out of their coaches book as they have won the battle in the paint in 14 of their 22 games this season. UB was not able to win this battle on Saturday but they were still able to collect the win as they were outscored 34-30. With the win, the Bulls are now 2-6 on the year when losing the battle of the paint. When winning the paint battle, UB holds a dominant 14-0 record on the season as they are averaging 30.5 points while limiting their opponents to just 24.7 points inside the paint on the season.
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 this season with the addition of some athletic and talented freshman. The Bulls completely dominated this category on Saturday as they won it for the 18th time this season by the score of 21-2. On the season, UB owns the 198-75 edge in fast break scoring and are 15-3 when winning and just 1-3 when losing the fast break category. UB has won the fast break category in eight of their last nine wins including their last five wins.
PROTECTING THE THREE POINT LINE
The Bulls have turned into one of the best three point defense teams in the MAC as of late and that continued on Saturday as they held the Kent State Golden Flashes to just 2-for-16 (12.5%) from behind the arc in the win. Buffalo ranks 2nd in the conference allowing their opponents to shoot just 27.8% from behind the arc overall this season. In MAC play, UB ranks 2nd in three point defense as their opponents are shooting just 25.6%. Through 11 MAC games, the Buffalo defense is allowing just 4.1 triples against/game.
TURNING THEM OVER IN MAC PLAY
With just seven conference games remaining, the UB defense has begun to take shape as they have turned into one of the best defenses in the conference in forcing turnovers. The stingy Buffalo defense ranks second in the MAC with a turnover margin of +2.1 as they are forcing an average of 17.1 turnovers/game. Over their last four games, UB is forcing an average of 19 turnovers while turning those into 18 points. The Bulls are tied for first in the MAC averaging 9.4 steals/game as they have accumulated 103 steals in conference action.
JOANNA SMITH SMITH EXPLODES FOR CAREER HIGH
After her worst offensive performance of the season on Wednesday at Toledo, senior JoAnna Smith responded in a big way on Saturday vs. Kent State. The sharpshooter went off and tied a career-high with 31 points, four rebounds and two steals across 33 minutes. The Southaven, MS native finished the game going only 13-for-21 from the floor and 3-for-8 from behind the arc as she has now connected on at least one three pointer in 55 of her last 58 games and at least three triples in 31 of her last 58 games. She has gone over the 20-point plateau in four of her last five games for the Bulls. Smith sits in third place on the all-time three pointers made list with 175 makes in her career as she has proved to be one of the most dangerous deep range shooters in program history. Buffalo is 14-4 this season and 33-15 over the past two seasons when Smith scores at least 10 points in a game. On the season, Smith is averaging a team-best 16.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists and 1.6 steals while leading UB in scoring 13 times. The captain has surpassed the 20-point plateau eight times this season including six times in her past 10 games for the Bulls. In MAC play, Smith ranks 3rd in the conference in scoring as she is averaging 20.5 points while ranking 3rd in three pointers made with 33.
REID ALL ABOUT IT
Junior point guard Stephanie Reid continued her high level of play on Saturday as she netted 12 points, five assists, one steal and one block in just 20 minutes of action. Reid finished the game going 3-for-8 from the floor and 6-for-8 from the charity stripe as she led UB to their sixth MAC win of the season. She has recorded at least eight helpers in nine of her last 15 games for the Bulls and at least 10 assists in five of her last 12 contests. Her 28 assists over a two-game span (Ball State and Western Michigan) are the most in the NCAA this season and most in program history. The junior moved into 5th place on UB's all-time assists charts passing her assistant coach Ashely Zuber as she has 393 career assists. Reid has reached double figures in scoring 12 times in her last 19 games. She has recorded at least one steal in 19 of 22 games and has notched multi-steal games 12 times this season including in three of her last four games. Behind her recent strong play, Reid is averaging 9.3 points, 7.1 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 2.1 steals while ranking first in the MAC in assist/turnover ratio (3.1) and second in assists (7.1 APG). Through 11 MAC games, Reid is 1st in the MAC in assists per game (8.0/game) and first in assist/turnover ratio (4.0).
COURT-3 WILKINS
Junior sharpshooter Courtney Wilkins returned to the court in a big way on Saturday afternoon after a two-game absence following an ankle injury. The Australia native came off the bench and exploded for a season-high 13 points on 5-for-7 from the floor and 3-for-5 from behind the arc. Wilkins helped propel the Bulls to a 16-point halftime lead as she netted 10 points in the second quarter, her highest scoring quarter of her career, on 4-for-5 from the floor and 2-for-3 from deep. The three point shooting of Wilkins has added a dimension to the Bulls bench as she is averaging 3.5 points and 2.0 rebounds while connecting on 17 triples.
ONWUKA BLOSSOMING IN STARTING ROLE
Freshman Theresa Onwuka has continued to improve and earn the trust of the UB coaching staff through 22 games this season. The lengthy guard earned her ninth straight start on Saturday and had a quiet game offensively nut was very effective in other parts of the game. The Nigeria native finished the game with just three points but grabbed eight rebounds, a career-high four assists and three steals across 26 minutes. The freshman has now went over the 20 minutes played mark 11 times in her last 12 games and has scored in double figures in seven of her nine starts this season. On the year, she is averaging 19.6 MPG, 6.7 PPG, 3.8 RPG and 1.2 SPG through 22 career games. She has scored in double figures in eight of her 11 MAC games.
HEMPHILL CONTINUES TO REBOUND THE BASKETBALL
Freshman forward Summer Hemphill has shown flashes of greatness through her first 22 games and because of those flashes she was awarded with her ninth straight start on Saturday. The Buffalo native struggled offensively for the third straight game as she only scored two points but she was able to grab a team-high eight rebounds to go along with a career-high three assists and two blocks across 22 minutes in the win over Kent State. Hemphill currently ranks 5th in the MAC in field goal percentage (55.1%). The freshman continues to cause problems for opposing teams with her length at the top of the Buffalo press while also settling in defensively as she has notched at least one block in 18 of her last 19 games and has recorded at least one steal in 14 of 22 games. She has also notched two blocks in nine of her last 19 games as her quick leaping ability has caused problems for opposing bigs. Through 22 career games, Hemphill is averaging 6.9 points, a team-high 7.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.3 blocks while notching double digit rebounds a team-best four times this season. Her 2.7 offensive rebounds/game ranks 6th in the MAC so far this season.
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 185-of-244 attempts (75.8%), ranking seventh in program history for free throw percentage. Senior JoAnna Smith has also been a great free throw shooter over her UB career as she ranks 12th in school history for free throw percentage (72.2%) as she has gone 184-for-255.
