Brown Helps Deliver First Conference Victory

Five Bulls score in double figures against Akron

Kourtney Brown

BUFFALO, NY – Freshman Kourtney Brown (Solon, OH/Solon) led five Buffalo players in double figures as UB picked up its first Mid-American Conference victory of the season, defeating Akron, 64-58, Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena. The victory improves UB’s record to 6-10 on the season and 1-3 in conference play, while Akron drops to 7-9 and 0-4 in the MAC.

UB found itself down eight early in the contest, but went on an 8-0 run to tie the game. Akron again would take the lead, scoring five unanswered, but UB ended the half on a 12-6 run to take a one-point advantage into the half. Brown scored 10 of her career-high 17 points in the first half to help UB take the advantage.

The two teams traded leads for much of the beginning of the second half until the Bulls went on a 15-2 run, which was fueled by six points from sophomore Jamie Schiebner (Saginaw, MI/Heritage) and capped off by a trey from junior Stephanie Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge).

“It feels great to get our first conference victory,” said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. “We truly anticipated having one before now, but we will take it.”

Brown finished as one of five Buffalo players to finish in double figures as she shot 8-of-10 from the floor, while pulling in six rebounds. Schiebner reached a double-double for the second straight game, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Bennett not only finished with 12 points, but was one of two players to record seven assists on the afternoon. Bennett also recorded four steals, sharing team-high honors with Schiebner. Senior Belinda Gibb (Denmark, Western Australia/Willetton) also recorded seven assists, while scoring 11 points and three steals. Rounding out the double-digit scorers was junior Heather Turner (West Seneca, NY/Mount Mercy Academy) who had 11 points and six rebounds.

Jamie Schiebner

The Bulls were able to use their inside game to their advantage, outscoring Akron 32-20 in the paint. UB forced 24 Akron turnovers, which it turned into 24 points.

Bennett recorded a personal milestone in the game, going over 600 points for her career, while Schiebner went over 225 career rebounds in the victory.

Akron was led by a game-high 26 points and team-high seven rebounds from Jessie Crooks and 14 points and five assists from Niki McCoy.

The Bulls return to action on Wednesday night when they host Kent State at Alumni Arena. The Bulls and the Golden Flashes will tip off at 7:00 pm.

01/13/2007