BUFFALO, NY - Senior Tiffany Bell (Alexandria, VA/Hayfield) recorded her third double-double of the season and seniors Sonia Ortega (Chihuahua, Mexico/Cobach) and Mari McClure (Rochester Hills, MI/Rochester Adams) both scored in double figures to lead the University at Buffalo women's basketball team to a win over visiting Akron in a Mid-American Conference battle at Alumni Arena, 75-61.

The Bulls' (11-2, 2-0 MAC) set the tone for the first half defensively as they allowed just eight buckets and forced 13 Zips' turnovers. Buffalo outscored Akron (2-11, 0-2 MAC) by a 23-4 margin in the first nine minutes of the game, aided by a 13-0 run that ended with 11:29 remaining in the half. A later 11-1 run gave the Bulls their largest lead of the game at 25, 36-11, with 5:10 to go before halftime. Akron senior Cheryl Bowles scored six of the Zips final 10 points of the half, cutting Buffalo's lead to 40-21 at the break, and sophomore Sandy Martin scored eight of her team-leading 18 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half to help the Zips get within 10, 57-47, with 7:36 showing on the clock. However, consecutive three-point plays by Bell and McClure increased Buffalo's lead to 63-47 with just over six minutes remaining in the game, and the Zips never threatened after that.

Bell finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds, including seven on the offensive side. The double-double was the 20th of her career. Bell was 6-of-8 from the foul line, and she moved into a tie with Brenna Doty (1993-97) for the top spot on UB's all-time career free throws made list (345). McClure finished with 16 points and six rebounds, and she tied her career high with seven assists. Ortega scored in double digits for the third straight game with 10 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists. Freshmen Virginia Jennings (Nashville, MI/Hastings) and Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy) finished with eight and six points, respectively, and the Bulls got 17 points from five different players off the bench.

"Our senior-led team found a way to get us a win today," said UB head coach Cheryl Dozier. "We had a little bit of a letdown in the beginning of the second half, but we played well overall. I think we got tremendous minutes out of our bench. It was great to see players like Rachel Martin, Jana Richtrova and Serena Stanbury contribute as much as they did. The players got themselves refocused at the start of the conference season, and that really showed today. Kent State is now a big game for us coming up. We have to go through them if we want to win a MAC championship."

The Bulls remain home to host the Golden Flashes, last year's MAC regular season and tournament champions, on Wednesday, January 10 at 7 pm at Alumni Arena. The game will be televised by Adelphia HTTV on a tape-delayed basis.