YPSILANTI, MI - The University at Buffalo women's basketball team earned its first Mid-American Conference victory of the season at Eastern Michigan tonight, a come-from-behind 71-65 win in front of 604 fans in the Convocation Center. The Bulls outrebounded the Eagles by a 36-24 margin and got a big spark from junior Kim Kilpela (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) off the bench. Kilpela posted her first double-double of the year with 17 points and 10 rebounds, six of them offensive. The win improves the Bulls' record to 8-5 overall and 1-2 in the MAC.

Kim Kilpela

The Bulls came into the game hungry for a win, but the Eagles (5-9 overall, 2-1 MAC) opened up an early 7-2 lead in the first five minutes of play. Buffalo came back to take a six-point lead on two occasions, led by Kilpela who came off the bench and scored nine straight points for the Bulls. EMU turned the tables, however, with an 11-4 run to take a six-point lead of its own late in the half, but the Bulls cut that to two at halftime, 32-30, thanks to a baseline jumper with one second on the clock by freshman Brooke Meunier (Saginaw, MI/Heritage).

The Bulls began the second half with a 15-5 run to take their largest lead of the game, 45-37, with 12:45 remaining. That run was keyed by sophomore Erin Lawrenson (Elkland, PA/Elkland Area) who hit two three-pointers and a jumper for eight of her 12 points in the game. The Eagles got themselves back in the game and tied the score at 50-50 on three straight three-pointers by Marion Crandall and a layup by Melis Ulker, but the Bulls then went on a 7-0 run to go ahead 57-50 with 6:17 to play. Eastern Michigan then embarked on a similar 7-0 run with a steal and layup by Crandall tying the score at 57-57 with 4:46 on the clock. Kilpela got the Bulls back on top with a jumper at the 4:27 mark, and Buffalo held on to the lead for the remainder of the game. The Eagles got as close as two, 67-65, with 22 seconds left, but senior Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe (Nelson, New Zealand/Hawaii) made four free throws in the final 20 seconds of the game to secure the win for the Bulls.

"I'm proud of how we battled," said head coach Cheryl Dozier. "We could have hung our heads with our 0-2 start in the conference, but instead we had a good few days of practice and battled back. Kim Kilpela came off the bench strong when we really needed her, and we had great balance again throughout our lineup which is how we've won games all year."

Buffalo scored 34 points in the paint, led by Kilpela's 17 and 10 from junior Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy). In addition to Lawrenson's 12, McMeeken-Ruscoe also finished in double figures with 11 points, four assists and four steals. The Bulls shot 50 percent from the floor in the game (25-for-50). Eastern Michigan was led by Abby Wiseman with 20 points and Crandall with a career-high 19, including five three-pointers.

The Bulls next host Cornell in their final non-conference game of the 2002-03 season on Monday, January 20 at 7 pm in Alumni Arena.