No. 7 Bulls Clash With No. 2 Ball State In The MAC Quarterfinals On Wednesday
3/7/2017 12:00:00β―AM | Women's Basketball
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BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo women's basketball team (21-9, 10-8 MAC) will look to defend their MAC Championship from a season ago as they head to Cleveland to take on No. 2 seeded Ball State in the quarterfinals on Wednesday evening at around 5:00 pm. The game will take place inside Quicken Loans Arena as the Bulls will look to advance to their second straight MAC semifinal.
The game will air live on ESPN3 and Time Warner Cable SportsChannel which is channel 323 in the Buffalo area. The game can also be listened to on ESPN1520 AM as Matt Mattia will be on the call live from Cleveland. Mattia will be getting you set with the pregame show starting at approximately 4:30 pm.
BULLS SET FOR QUARTERFINALS SHOWDOWN VS. BALL ST
The Bulls have advanced to Cleveland for the second straight season as they look to repeat as MAC Tournament champions. The No. 7 seeded Bulls will be the away team on Wednesday evening as they will take on the No. 2 seeded Ball State Cardinals at Quicken Loans Arena at around 5:00 pm. The Bulls and Cardinals matched up earlier this season in Buffalo with the Cardinals pulling out the 89-75 victory. The game will air live on ESPN3 or can be heard on ESPN1520 AM as Matt Mattia will be on the call. Mattia will get you ready for game action with the pregame show starting around 4:30 pm on Wednesday.
BUFFALO POWERS PAST FALCONS IN OPENING ROUND
The Bulls got back to their winning ways on Monday night in the first round of the MAC Tournament as they handed the Bowling Green Falcons the 61-45 loss. The Buffalo defense was great on Monday as the Bulls forced 18 turnovers while holding the Falcons to just 32.7% shooting for the game. The Bulls improved to 17-0 on the season when holding their opponents to 59 points or less as they held their fifth opponent out of their last seven games to under 56 points. Playing in her final game in front of her home fans at Alumni Arena, senior JoAnna Smith led the Bulls with 24 points, 22 of which coming in the second half, and eight rebounds in the win. Junior point guard Stephanie Reid had another strong game as she netted 12 points, nine assists and four steals while fellow junior Cassie Oursler finished off her strong night with 16 points, five rebounds and two blocks. The Bulls were able to grab 19 offensive rebounds while winning the rebounding battle, 47-35 on the night.
FAMILIAR FOE
This marks the 25th meeting of all-time between the two programs with the Cardinals owning the 16-8 edge over the Bulls. The two sides have gone 5-5 against one another over the last couple of seasons with the Cardinals winning the last three games. Ball State downed UB earlier this season at Alumni Arena by the score of 89-75.
THREE BULLS EARN ALL-MAC HONORS
As announced on Tuesday afternoon, the Bulls had three players earn All-MAC honors as JoAnna Smith was named Second Team All-MAC, Stephanie Reid earned All-Defensive team and Summer Hemphill was named to the All-Freshman team. Smith has earned All-MAC honors for the second straight season while Reid earned the All-Defensive team nod for the second straight season. Hemphill is the first freshman since Alexus Malone 2013-14 to earn a spot on the All-Freshman team.
CLEVELAND IS THE REASON
This marks the third straight season that the Bulls have made it to the Mid-American Conference quarterfinals in Cleveland under head coach Felisha Legette-Jack and the fourth time overall the the Jack-led Bulls have made the trip down the 90. The Bulls pulled the improbable upset last season as they became the lowest seed in MAC Tournament history (eight seed) to win the Conference Tournament. Buffalo knocked off the No. 1, No. 2, No. 4 and No. 9 seeds en route to their first MAC Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance. Last seasons run was capped by a Stephanie Reid overtime buzzer beating runner in the lane as UB defeated Central Michigan 73-71 in just the fourth overtime game in MAC championship game history.
REPEAT AFTER ME
The UB women's basketball team just wrapped up their second consecutive 20-win season as they are 21-9 on the season, the most wins for UB since joining the MAC in 1998-99. 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 89-69 under Legette-Jack's watchful eye as they have accumulated at least 17 victories in each of the past four seasons. Buffalo notched their 21st win of the season on Monday and they have now recorded at least 19 wins in three straight seasons for the second time in program history. The Bulls have also produced back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since joining the MAC in 1998-99 and just the second time in program history. Upon graduation following this season, senior JoAnna Smith will be the winningest player in the Bulls MAC era as she has already accumulated 77 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 has resulted in the best season by a point guard in UB history. The Australia native currently ranks 6th in the NCAA in assists/game (7.4 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 222 helpers on the year. Reid moved into third place on the Bulls all-time assists charts last game as she now has 459 career assists, just four shy of second 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 20 games for the Bulls. With her nine assists on Monday, she has now registered 8+ assists on 15 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 this season, Reid averaged a conference-best 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 Monday against Bowling Green as the Bulls were able to pull down 19 offensive rebounds. UB grabbed 11 offensive boards alone in the third quarter. The Bulls turned their 19 offensive rebounds into 15 second chance points on the night. UB has won or tied the offensive rebounding battle in 23 of their 30 games this season. On the year, UB ranks 15th in the NCAA in offensive rebounds (16.2/game) and 19th in rebounds/game (42.9). Buffalo has held 22 opponents and 19 of their last 24, to 10 second chance points or less this season. The rebounding effort by the Bulls has been impressive as they are limiting their last 23 opponents to just 10.4 offensive rebounds/game while averaging 16.4 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 continued to score the basketball on Monday as she netted a game-high 24 points in the win over BG. Smith was able to connect on 22 of her 24 points in the second half as she netted four triples. Smith is now 7th in program history for points in a career with 1,364 career points, 19 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 206 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 21-9 record on the season. The Buffalo defense got back on track on Monday in the opening round of the MAC Tournament as they held the Bowling Green Falcons to just 45 points, the second fewest points allowed this season by UB. Buffalo forced 18 turnovers and turned thoseinto 13 points while holding the Falcons to just 32.7% shooting for the game. The Buffalo defense has held five of their last seven opponents to under 60 points, winning all five of those games. The Bulls lead the MAC in scoring defense as they are allowing just 61.1 points/game. Buffalo is 44-8 over the last two seasons when holding their opponents under 70 points and 19-0 when holding their opponents to scoring 50 points or less over the past two seasons. UB improved to 17-0 this season when holding their opponents to 59 points or less and have held eight opponents to 50 points or less this season.
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 control the glass on Monday as they outrebounded the Falcons 47-35 for the game and it resulted in a 16-point win. With the win, UB improves to 19-4 when they win the rebounding battle and just 2-5 when they are outrebounded. Over the past two seasons, UB is 36-8 when winning the battle on the boards. As a team, UB ranks 2nd in the MAC and 19th in the NCAA in rebounds per game (42.9/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 19 of their 30 games this season. UB controlled the paint on Monday as they outscored the Bowling Green Falcons 26-22. On the year, UB holds a dominant 17-1 record when winning the battle of the paint. Buffalo is averaging 30.2 points while limiting their opponents to just 24.0 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 dominate this category on Monday as they outscored Bowling Green 10-0 out in transition. Buffalo has now won or tied the fast break scoring battle in 26 of their 30 games. On the season, UB owns the 258-101 edge in fast break scoring and are 20-6 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 13 of their last 14 wins including each of their last 10 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 were able to do this once again on Monday and it resulted in a win. The Bulls outshot the Falcons 35.3% to 32.7% for the game and they claimed the 16-point victory. With the win, the Bulls improved to 18-1 this season and 35-2 over the past two seasons when shooting a higher percentage from the floor than their opponents. Buffalo is only 3-8 this year when shooting a lower percentage.
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 they continued their upward trend on Monday as they held the Falcons to just 17.6% (3-of-17) from behind the arc. Buffalo ranks 2nd in the conference and 35th in the NCAA allowing their opponents to shoot just 28.1% 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%. UB allowed just 4.8 three pointers against in conference games.
