Bulls Soar Past Falcons With Dominant Wire-to-Wire Win on Saturday

Saturday, February 25

Bowling Green, OH

1:00pm

University at Buffalo

10-15,5-11MAC

Bowling Green

24-4,13-3MAC

Buffalo

Bowling Green

Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UBBulls.com

Bulls Soar Past Falcons With Dominant Wire-to-Wire Win on Saturday

2/25/2023 4:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – With their backs against the wall, the University at Buffalo women's basketball team dominated from start to finish in an 84-66 wire-to-wire win over Bowling Green on Senior Day at the Stroh Center on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Bulls stay alive in their pursuit of postseason play in Cleveland.

Buffalo shot 69.8% from the floor and 62.5% from beyond the arc, both Division I era program records. The 10 made three-pointers ties a season-high for UB and the 84 points scored are the second highest this year. Defensively, in Buffalo's two meetings with Bowling Green, the Bulls held the Falcons to 64 and 66 points. The only team to hold BGSU to fewer points was Indiana, who is currently ranked number two in the nation.

It was a balanced effort offensively as eight Bulls found the scoresheet, including four in double figures, led by graduate guard Re'Shawna Stone who scored a game-high 23 points. Sophomore Emerita Mashaire scored a career-high 16 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists and freshman Hattie Ogden recorded 13 points and six rebounds. Fifth year guard Jazmine Young added 12 points, including eight in the second half and Zakiyah Winfield narrowly missed out on a double-double with nine points and 14 rebounds.

The Bulls were the aggressors in the early going as they opened the game on an 8-0 run, including six points from Stone, to force a BGSU timeout. The Bulls extended the run to 11-2 on an and-one bucket by Mashaire and the Bulls would continue to attack as Stone knocked down a mid-range jumper and Winfield and Mashaire followed with transition layups to put UB up 17-6 with just over three minutes to play in the quarter. The Bulls continued to heat up from deep as Ogden drained a three from the wing, and later, Stone drilled a corner triple as the shot clock expired to give Buffalo a 23-10 lead at the end of first.

Buffalo used great ball movement on their first possession of the second quarter and Mashaire was the beneficiary as she drained a corner three to extend the UB lead to 16. The Falcons used a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 10 but Mashaire sliced to the basket for a layup off glass, Young knocked down a pair from the charity stripe and Latrice Perkins drew a charge for a big defensive stop as the Bulls maintained a 30-21 lead at the media timeout. Winfield gave the Bulls a spark out of the break, knocking down a mid-range jumper and Stone followed with a three on UB's next possession to cap a 7-0 run and give Buffalo a 14-point lead at the 4:01 mark. The Bulls continued to turn defense into offense as Perkins came up with a steal and scored in transition, Stone grabbed a rebound and hit Perkins for a fastbreak layup and freshman Caelan Ellis came up with a big steal and knocked down a pair of free throws to give Buffalo a 44-29 lead at the half.

UB's hot shooting continued to start the third quarter as Young hit a step back three on UB's first possession, Stone drove baseline and kicked it out to Ogden for a corner triple and then the freshman followed with another three, this time from the wing, to give UB a 53-32 lead, and force a BGSU timeout at the 6:19 mark. The threes continued to rain down as Mashaire found Young on the wing for her second triple of the day as Buffalo took a 56-35 lead at the media timeout. The Bulls extended their run to 16-3 as Stone sliced to the basket for two and then Young drove baseline and finished the reverse layup through contact to put the Bulls up 27 and they maintained a 65-41 lead at the end of the third.

The teams traded baskets early in the fourth quarter before Mashaire slipped a great pass through to Winfield on the block for a layup off glass to put UB up 72-46. The fireworks continued to fly as Stone drilled a triple at the buzzer and then Mashaire followed with an and-one bucket and a three from the wing to put UB up by 28 with just under four minutes remaining and that was more than enough to secure the road victory.

The Bulls dominated the glass, outrebounding Bowling Green 37-21 while also scoring 16 fastbreak points and adding 15 points off BGSU turnovers and 36 in the paint.

"I am so proud and so thankful for those players in that locker room and their ability to handle every adversity thrown their way this year," said head coach Becky Burke. "Their fight, their heart has not resulted in wins lately, but this is a special group that has been through so much and they earned this win. To do it on the road, on someone's senior day against one of the top teams in the league shows the heart and resiliency of this group. They did this; they got every rebound, scored every point, they followed the game plan to perfection and again I'm so thankful for the players and coaches in that locker room. We came here wanting to ruin someone's day and I think we did that."

Buffalo returns to the friendly confines of Alumni Arena for the final two games of the regular season, beginning on Wednesday, March 1 with a contest against the Akron Zips.