TOLEDO, OH - The University at Buffalo women's basketball team came out strong but could not stand up to Toledo's pressure in the second half, allowing the host Rockets to earn a come-from-behind 71-56 win in front of 2,391 fans at Savage Hall.

Erin Lawrenson

The Bulls (9-6, 1-3 MAC) led by as many as 10 points in the first half but then hurt themselves with 17 second-half turnovers to suffer their third Mid-American Conference loss of the season. Buffalo was led by sophomore Erin Lawrenson (Elkland, PA/Elkland Area) who tied her career high with six three-pointers for a game-high 18 points. The win improved Toledo's record to 11-5 overall and 4-1 in the MAC.

Lawrenson opened the scoring with a three-pointer on the first possession of the game, and Buffalo quickly jumped out to a 10-point lead, 18-8, with 13:50 remaining in the half. The Rockets used an 11-4 run later in the half, capped by back-to-back three-pointers by Kelly Walker, to get within two, 26-24, at the 6:30 mark, but the Bulls followed with a 7-2 run to extend their lead back to seven, 33-26, with 4:36 to play. A 7-0 run by the Rockets then tied the score, but Buffalo went back on top by two, 35-33, when junior Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy) nailed a jumper at the buzzer to end the half.

Toledo began the second half with a 6-0 run and took its first lead of the game, 38-35, on another three-pointer by Walker at the 18:49 mark. A three-pointer by Lawrenson later put the Bulls back on top, 40-39, with 16:33 to play, and the game remained tight for the next few minutes until the Rockets pulled away with a five-point lead, 50-45. Lawrenson's final three of the night got Buffalo within two, 50-48, at 11:06, but the Rockets scored the next seven points to quickly take command of the game. Toledo scored 16 points off of Buffalo turnovers in the second half, and early foul trouble by the Bulls led to the Rockets scoring eight of their last 10 points in the game from the free throw line to secure the win.

"You have to rebound and you have to take care of the basketball to win on the road in this league," said head coach Cheryl Dozier. "We didn't do either in the second half. I give Toledo a lot of credit. They were very confident and played with a lot of intensity."

Buffalo committed 25 turnovers in the game, and Toledo scored a total of 24 points off of those turnovers. The Bulls shot 41. 2 percent from the floor (21-for-51) and hit a season-high nine three-pointers. The Rockets shot 36.7 percent in the game (22-for-60) and were 8-for-18 from behind the arc.

Kochendorfer finished with nine points, six rebounds and two blocks for the Bulls, and junior Kim Kilpela (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) added seven points and two rebounds off the bench. Toledo had four players finish in double figures in scoring, led by Walker with 16 points, including four three-pointers.

The Bulls return home to host Miami (OH) on Saturday, January 25 at 7 pm in Alumni Arena.