Jessica Kochendorfer

ITHACA, NY - It wasn't necessarily pretty, but the University at Buffalo women's basketball team answered every Cornell threat and, in the end, came away with a 64-60 win tonight over the Big Red to snap a seven-game losing streak. Senior Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy) fell just shy of a triple-double with 11 points, 10 rebounds and a school-record nine blocked shots, and senior Kim Kilpela (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) scored a team-high 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Bulls in the win.

Buffalo jumped out to an early 20-5 lead, holding the Big Red to just five points in the first nine minutes of play. Cornell cut the lead to seven, 33-26, but Kilpela hit a jumper and a layup in the final minute of the half to increase the Bulls' advantage to double digits entering halftime, 37-26.

Cornell opened the second half with an 8-2 run and eventually got within three, 47-44, with 11:36 left on the clock. The Bulls, however, embarked on a 10-0 run to go up 13, 57-44, with 6:51 to play, but the Big Red was not done. Cornell's Dani Aretino hit 1-of-2 free throws at the 1:28 mark to cut the margin to three once again, 61-58, and after the teams exchanged turnovers, Kochendorfer was fouled and hit both of her shots from the free throw line to put Buffalo ahead 63-58. CU's Tanya Karcic hit a jumper with 10.1 seconds on the clock, but the Big Red then fouled Buffalo freshman Kelly Calderone (Freedom, PA/Ambridge), who made one free throw to make it a two-possession game, and time then ran out on Cornell's attempted comeback.

The Bulls shot 51.0 percent from the floor in the game (26-for-51), and they outrebounded the Big Red by a 36-31 margin. Sophomore Brooke Meunier (Saginaw, MI/Heritage) also reached double digits in scoring with 14 points, while junior Talia Merlino (Newtown, PA/Notre Dame (NJ) HS) tied her career high with nine points and Calderone added eight points.

Cornell's Karcic led all scorers with 23 points, while Lauren Kilduff added 14 points and six rebounds and Aretino finished with seven points and 12 rebounds. The Big Red shot 40.4 percent from the floor (23-for-57).

"Obviously we're excited about the win, our first road victory of the year," said Buffalo head coach Cheryl Dozier. "I'm very pleased with the way we played at the end of the game. Cornell made a run, but we were able to hang on and maintain our lead and come out of there with a much-needed victory."
Kochendorfer's nine blocks, seven of them coming in the second half, set a school record and tied the Mid-American Conference record for blocks in a game. The previous school record was eight, set by Anne Trapper in the 1975-76 season and tied by Janet Lilley during the 1980-81 season. Kochendorfer now has 27 blocks on the year, and she needs 25 more to tie the school record for career blocks (159 held by Nicole Blakeslee, 1994-98).

The Bulls (2-9 overall, 0-2 Mid-American Conference) now return home to Alumni Arena for a three-game homestand, beginning with a MAC contest against Marshall on Saturday, January 17 at 7 pm. Buffalo then closes out the non-conference schedule with a 7 pm game against Holy Cross on Monday, January 19.