Allison Bennett

BUFFALO, NY - Four players scored in double figures, led by a career-high 21 points from senior Allison Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge), and the University at Buffalo women's basketball team (3-10 overall, 1-1 Mid-American Conference) shot 56.6 percent from the floor to shock the visiting Miami University RedHawks tonight, 80-61, in front of 425 fans in Alumni Arena. The Bulls' 80 points are the most they have scored since an 86-80 overtime win at Youngstown State on December 18, 2002.

Junior Brooke Meunier (Saginaw, MI/Heritage), celebrating her 21st birthday, scored the game's opening bucket at the 19:53 mark and then had a steal and an assist on a layup by freshman Stephanie Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) to get the Bulls out to a 4-0 lead. The Bulls made their first four shots from the floor to jump out to an 11-5 lead with 17:30 on the clock, but Miami's Cindi Merrill hit three straight shots for a 6-0 run that tied the score at 11-11 at the 15:40 mark. A three-pointer by Miami's Nicki Motto then put the RedHawks up 14-13 with 14:36 on the clock, and the lead would then change hands nine more times before the end of the half. Following a three-point play by Merrill that cut Miami's deficit to 29-27 with 3:53 to play, the Bulls closed the half with a 6-0 run while the RedHawks went 0-for-9 from the floor to give Buffalo a 35-27 advantage at the break.

Stephanie Bennett

Buffalo opened the second half with a 7-0 run to go up by 15, 42-27, at the 18:42 mark, and they put the game out of reach with a 17-3 run over a span of 4:33 midway through the half. The run began with four straight three-pointers, two by Stephanie Bennett and one apiece from Allison Bennett and sophomore Belinda Gibb (Denmark, Western Australia/Willetton). A later 6-0 run gave the Bulls their largest lead of the game at 29 points, 74-45, with 4:16 to play before they settled for the 19-point victory.

The Bulls shot 30-for-53 from the floor in the game, including 13-for-28 in the first half (46.4 percent) and 17-for-25 in the second half (68.0 percent). Allison Bennett was a perfect 6-for-6 in the second half, scoring 16 of her game-high 21 points. Stephanie Bennett was a perfect 4-for-4 in the first half and finished the game 7-for-10 and 4-for-5 from three-point range for a career-high 18 points. She also added seven assists and six rebounds. Meunier finished with 17 points, six rebounds and four assists, and freshman Heather Turner (West Seneca, NY/Mount Mercy Academy) added 11 points and seven rebounds.

Miami (8-6, 2-1 MAC) was led by Merrill with 14 points, 11 in the first half, while Sarah Hull and Amber Miller added 10 points apiece. The RedHawks shot 36.4 percent from the floor in the game (24-for-66) and they were just 7-for-27 from three-point range (25.9 percent). The RedHawks outrebounded the Bulls by a 38-35 margin, and they grabbed 17 offensive boards but scored just 10 second-chance points.

"I'm really proud of our team," said UB head coach Cheryl Dozier. "I challenged them after the loss to Bowling Green and they really responded tonight. We came out extremely well and believed in ourselves. We got great looks and we hit shots - that's what it came down to. We moved the ball really well and didn't force anything offensively, and we took our defense up a level. We were the team we've been looking for all year."

The Bulls next host Ball State at 5 pm on Saturday, January 15 in Alumni Arena. The game is a doubleheader with the UB men's team taking on Miami (OH) following the women's game.