Women's Hoops Welcomes Bowling Green On Monday With A Trip To Cleveland On The Line
3/5/2017 12:00:00β―AM | Women's Basketball
FULL GAME NOTES (.PDF)
MAC TOURNAMENT BRACKET
BUFFALO, NY - The No. 7 seeded University at Buffalo women's basketball team (20-9, 10-8 MAC) will play host to No. 10 Bowling Green on Monday at 5:30 pm inside Alumni Arena in the First Round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament. This marks the second straight season that the two teams have faced off in the MAC first round with the Bulls pulling out the 60-44 win last season at Alumni Arena as they eventually went on and won their first MAC Tournament Championship.
The game will air live on ESPN3 with Paul Peck and Amy Audibert on the call or you can tune into ESPN1520 AM as Matt Mattia will be on the call starting at 5:00 pm with the pre-game show.
BULLS WELCOME BG FOR MAC TOURNAMENT 1ST ROUND
For the second straight season, the UB women's basketball team will play host to the Bowling Green Falcons in the MAC Tournament First Round on Monday at 5:30 pm. The Bulls earned the #7 seed while the Falcons are the #10 seed. The two sides will faceoff on Monday with a trip to Cleveland on the line and a meeting with #2 Ball State on Wednesday afternoon. You can watch the game live on ESPN3 with Paul Peck and Amy Audibert on the call or you can tune into ESPN1520 AM as Matt Mattia will get you ready for action with the pre-game show starting at 5:00 pm.
KENT STATE EDGES OUT BULLS IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE
Buffalo closed out their regular season on the road at Kent State with a 80-71 loss. The Bulls fought hard but couldn't overcome the MAC East regular season champions fierce attack. Junior Center Cassie Oursler had the best game of her career in the loss as she netted a career-best 21 points on 9-for-11 from the floor while also grabbing nine rebounds. Junior point guard Stephanie Reid continued her stellar play at the point on Saturday as she netted 17 points, eight assists, five steals and two rebounds as she played all 40 minutes. JoAnna Smith wasn't able to continue her stretch of back-to-back 20+ point games as she finished the game with 13 points and five rebounds while Mariah Suchan had a strong game at the power forward spot as she netted 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the defeat.
FAMILIAR FOE
This marks the 37th meeting of all-time between the two programs with the Falcons owning a dominant 26-10 record against UB. Bowling Green was able to collect 20 straight wins from 2003-04 through 2013-14 but the Bulls have won six of the last seven in the series. The two teams split this seasons matchups but UB downed the Falcons last season at Alumni Arena in the MAC Tournament First Round game by the score of 60-44.
HOME SWEET HOME
The Bulls will host the visiting Bowling Green Falcons on Monday at Alumni Arena and this is a good sign as UB owns a 16-4 record in front of their home fans over their last 20 games. Buffalo is 12-4 on their home court so far this season, tying the division I program record for home wins in a season (2000-01). Over the past 3+ seasons, UB owns a 38-18 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 70.8 points while allowing their opponents to average just 59.3 points and 35.8% shooting from the floor.
REPEAT AFTER ME
The UB women's basketball team just wrapped up their second consecutive 20-win season and they will be looking for more as they enter the MAC Tournament on Monday. After winning the MAC Tournament and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history a season ago, the Bulls are looking to become the third team to win back-to-back MAC Championships and the first to do so since Bowling Green in 2010 and 2011. If Buffalo is able to win the MAC Tournament once again in 2017, the Bulls will join the Bowling Green Falcons and the Toledo Rockets as the only teams to win the championship in back-to-back seasons.
BACK-TO-BACK 20 WIN SEASONS FOR THE BULLS
Since head coach Felisha Legette-Jack took over the reins of the program prior to the 2012-13 campaign, the Bulls have turned into one of the premier teams in the Mid-American Conference. UB is 88-69 under Legette-Jack's watchful eye as they have accumulated at least 17 victories in each of the past four seasons. Buffalo notched their 20th win of the season on Wednesday and they have now recorded at least 19 wins in three straight seasons for the first time in program history. The Bulls have also produced back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since joining division I in 1998-99. Upon graduation following this season, senior JoAnna Smith will be the winningest player in the Bulls division I era as she has already accumulated 76 career victories in the blue and white.
REID RANKS 6th IN NCAA IN ASSISTS/GAME
Junior point guard Stephanie Reid has been facilitating at a high level since the start of the season and it is resulting in one of the best seasons by a point guard in UB history. The Australia native currently ranks 6th in the NCAA in assists/game (7.3 APG) while ranking 2nd in the MAC. The junior set a Buffalo program record for assists in a single season as she has now accumulated 213 helpers on the year. Reid currently sits in fourth place on the Bulls all-time assists charts with 450 career assists, just one shy of third place. Reid is just the fifth player in UB history to accumulate 400 career assists. Reid has seven games with 10+ assists, all of which coming within her last 19 games for the Bulls. With her eight assists on Saturday, she has now registered 8+ assists on 14 ocassions this season. Earlier in the season, Reid tied the program record with 16 assists against Ball State while her 28 assists over a two-game stretch are the most in the NCAA this season and most in program history. In MAC games, Reid is averaging 8.1 assists/game.
BULLS RANK 15TH IN NATION IN OFFENSIVE REBOUNDING
Buffalo has been getting after the offensive glass all season long and that continued on Saturday as they gathered 17 offensive boards in the loss to Kent State. The Bulls turned their 17 offensive rebounds into just nine second chance points on the afternoon. UB has won or tied the offensive rebounding battle in 22 of their 29 games this season. On the year, UB ranks 15th in the NCAA in offensive rebounds (16.2/game) and 19th in rebounds/game (42.8). Buffalo has held 21 opponents and 18 of their last 23, to 10 second chance points or less this season. The rebounding effort by the Bulls has been impressive as they are limiting their last 22 opponents to just 10.7 offensive rebounds/game while averaging 16.1 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 a rare off night to her standards as she netted 13 points in the road loss to Kent State. Smith was able to connect on three triples as she became just the third player in program history to surpass 200 career makes from deep. Smith is now 7th in program history for points in a career with 1,340 career points, 43 points shy of sixth place on the list. She is one of three players in UB history to score 1,000+ points in two seasons, joining Kourtney Brown and Tiffany Bell. Smith also sits in 3rd place on UB's all-time three pointers made charts with 202 career makes.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
The strength of the Bulls over the past two seasons has been their defense and that strong defense has helped UB gather a 20-9 record on the season. The Buffalo defense wasn't able to slow down the high scoring Kent State attack on Saturday as the Flashes handed UB the 80-71 loss. The Buffalo defense has held four of their last six opponents to under 60 points, winning all four of those games. The Bulls lead the MAC in scoring defense as they are allowing just 61.7 points/game. Buffalo is 43-8 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 improved to 16-0 this season when holding their opponents to 59 points or less.
CLEANING THE GLASS
One of the keys to the Bulls success this season has been winning the battle on the boards. UB wasn't able to do this on Saturday and it resulted in a loss as the Golden Flashes outrebounded the Bulls 44-40. With the loss, UB is now 2-5 on the season when losing the rebounding battle. When the Bulls win the rebounding efforts, they are 18-4 this season and 35-8 over the past two seasons. As a team, UB ranks 2nd in the MAC and 19th in the NCAA in rebounds per game (42.8/game).
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 18 of their 29 games this season. UB was dominant inside the paint on Saturday as they outscored Kent State, 34-14 but it didn't result in a win. On the year, UB holds a dominant 16-1 record when winning the battle of the paint. Buffalo is averaging 30.4 points while limiting their opponents to just 24.1 points inside the paint.
RUNNING WITH THE BULLS
The Bulls have turned into one of the best fast break scoring teams in the country this season thanks in large part to the athleticism of this Buffalo roster. The Bulls continued to win this category on Saturday as they outscored the Golden Flashes 8-4. Buffalo has now won or tied the fast break scoring battle in 25 of their 29 games. On the season, UB owns the 248-101 edge in fast break scoring and are 19-6 when winning or tying this battle and just 1-3 when losing the fast break category. UB has won or tied the fast break category in 12 of their last 13 wins including their last nine wins.
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 weren't able to shoot a higher percentage than the Flashes on Saturday as Kent State outshot UB 39.0% to 38.7%. With the loss, the Bulls are now just 3-8 on the year when getting outshot by their opponents. When UB wins the shooting percentage category, the Bulls are 17-1 on the year and 34-2 over the past two seasons.
PROTECTING THE THREE POINT LINE
The Bulls have turned into one of the best three point defense teams in the MAC as of late but the Flashes exposed UB on Saturday as they connected on 57.1% (8-for-14) of their shots from deep. Buffalo ranks 2nd in the conference and 38th in the NCAA allowing their opponents to shoot just 28.4% from behind the arc overall this season. In MAC play, UB ranks 2nd in three point defense as their opponents are shooting just 27.6%. Through 18 MAC games, the Buffalo defense is allowing just 4.8 triples against/game.
TURNING THEM OVER IN MAC PLAY
With the MAC Tournament starting on Monday, 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 4th in the MAC with a turnover margin of +1.5 in MAC play as they are forcing an average of 16.4 turnovers/game. Over their last 12 games, UB is forcing an average of 17.1 turnovers while turning those into 16.0 points. The Bulls are 3rd in the MAC averaging 8.8 steals/game in conference games as they have accumulated 159 steals through 18 games.
JOANNA SMITH HAS RARE OFF NIGHT
Senior JoAnna Smith had a rare off night in the Bulls loss at Kent State on Saturday as she netted just 13 points and five rebounds across 31 minutes. The Southaven, MS native finished the game going 5-for-23 from the floor and 3-for-10 from behind the arc as she has now connected on at least one three pointer in 62 of her last 65 games and at least three triples in 37 of her last 65 games. She has gone over the 20-point plateau in seven of her last 12 games for the Bulls. Smith sits in third place on the all-time three pointers made list with 202 makes in her career as she has proved to be one of the most dangerous deep range shooters in program history. Buffalo is 17-6 this season and 36-18 over the past two seasons when Smith scores at least 10 points in a game. On the season, Smith is averaging a team-best 17.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists and 1.6 steals while leading UB in scoring 16 times. The captain has surpassed the 20-point plateau 11 times this season including nine times in her past 17 games for the Bulls. In MAC play, Smith ranks 2nd in the conference in scoring as she is averaging 19.8 points while ranking 2nd in three pointers made with 60.
REID ALL ABOUT IT
Junior point guard Stephanie Reid continued her high level of play on Saturday afternoon as she produced 17 points, eight assists, five steals and two rebounds across 40 minutes. Reid is now the programs single season record holder for assists in a season with 213 helpers on the year as she passed former Bull and current assistant coach Ashley Zuber against Bowling Green. She has recorded at least eight helpers in 14 of her last 22 games for the Bulls and at least 10 assists in seven of her last 19 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 sits in 4th place on UB's all-time assists charts with 450 career assists, one assist shy of 3rd place on the list. Reid has reached double figures in scoring 19 times in her last 26 games and has surpassed the 20-point plateau a career-best four times this season. She has recorded at least one steal in 23 of 29 games and has notched multi-steal games 15 times this season including in six of her last 11 games. The junior has at least four steals four times in her last 10 games. Behind her recent strong play, Reid is averaging a career-best 11.3 points, 7.3 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals while ranking 1st in the MAC in assist/turnover ratio (2.9) and 2nd in assists (7.3 APG). Through 18 MAC games, Reid is 1st in the MAC in assists per game (8.1/game) and first in assist/turnover ratio (3.2).
OURSLER HAS CAREER GAME AT KENT STATE
Junior center Cassie Oursler has proven to be one of the most dominant post players in the conference when she is able to stay out of foul trouble and she was able to do this on Saturday. Oursler finished off her strong effort with a career-high 21 points, nine rebounds and a block across 29 minutes of work. She was 9-for-11 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe as she went over 20 points for the first time in her UB career. On the season, Oursler is averaging 19.3 minutes, 9.0 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks while shooting 47.4% from the floor and 72.9% from the charity stripe. Oursler has recorded at least one block in 31 of her last 38 games and has notched at least two blocks in 21 of her 52 career starts. The junior ranks 14th in program history with 78 career rejections.
SUCHAN EMBRACING HER STARTING ROLE
Junior forward Mariah Suchan earned her eighth straight start at power forward for the Bulls on Saturday afternoon and performed at a high level. The Witchita, KS native finished off her impressive game against Kent State with 11 points and eight rebounds as she went 5-for-9 from the floor. The junior also grabbed four offensive rebounds as she played 27 minutes. Over her last nine games, Suchan is averaging 26.9 minutes, 6.1 points and 5.7 rebounds while the Bulls are 6-3 in those games.
BLOCK PARTY
The Bulls have turned into one of the best defensive teams in the conference due in large part to their ability to block shots and alter shots down low. The Bulls rank 2nd in the MAC in blocks/game (3.9) and they are 3rd in MAC games (4.0). Junior center Cassie Oursler has been the Bulls best blocker as she ranks second in the MAC with 45 blocks (1.6/game). Freshman Summer Hemphill has continued to learn and flourish into a defensive playmaker as she ranks seventh in the MAC in blocks (1.2/game). Over her last six games, Oursler has turned into a beast down low as she is averaging 3.5 blocks/game as she has record two games with five blocks, tying a career-high.
