Jessica Kochendorfer

AKRON, OH - Junior Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy) scored a career-high 28 points and the University at Buffalo women's basketball team did what it had to do to win, pulling out a 48-45 win in overtime at Akron. Buffalo (10-7 overall, 2-4 Mid-American Conference) scored the last four points in regulation, including two free throws by sophomore Allison Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) with 36.8 seconds remaining, and then outscored Akron (2-17, 1-7 MAC) by an 8-5 margin in the extra period to escape with the win in front of 177 fans at JAR Arena.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half after senior Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe (Nelson, New Zealand/Hawaii) opened the scoring with a three-pointer at the 19:36 mark. Kochendorfer scored all 12 of Buffalo's remaining points in the half, but the Zips took a 16-15 lead into the lockerroom thanks to a three-pointer by Lindsay Hemmelgarn with 35 seconds left and two free throws by Cassandra Martin who was fouled on a shot at the buzzer. The Bulls shot 7-of-24 from the field in the first half (29.2 percent) and the Zips were 5-of-24 (20.8 percent).

Trailing 22-21 in the second half, the Bulls went on a 9-0 run to open up an eight-point lead, their largest of the game, 30-22 with 13:26 remaining. Hemmelgarn then ended an 11-2 run by the Zips with another three-pointer to give Akron a 33-32 lead at the 7:56 mark, but Kochendorfer responded with a bucket on Buffalo's next possession and the game remained tight to the final buzzer. Akron led by four, 40-36, with 2:17 on the clock before Kochendorfer cut the lead to two with a jumper with 1:55 to play. Kochendorfer then grabbed a rebound of a missed layup by Hemmelgarn on Akron's next possession, and Bennett was then sent to the free throw line with 36.8 seconds to play when she was fouled in the lane. After Bennett tied the score at 40-40, the teams exchanged turnovers in the final seconds and neither team got another shot off before time expired.

The Bulls won the tip in overtime and Kochendorfer opened the scoring with a jumper just 17 seconds into OT to give Buffalo an early advantage. Junior Kim Kilpela (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) scored Buffalo's next two buckets, her only four points in the game, to keep the Bulls on top. Akron cut the Bulls' lead to one on two separate occasions but never took the lead in overtime. Kochendorfer and freshman Hollie Cook (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) both hit one of two free throw attempts in the waning seconds to secure the Bulls' win.

Buffalo finished the night shooting 33.9 percent from the floor (19-for-56) while Akron shot 32.7 percent (17-for-52). The Zips were just 6-of-20 from the free throw line in the game and missed all 10 of their attempts in the second half. They were led by Martin with 14 points and Hemmelgarn with 12 points on four three-pointers.

"Turnovers and offensive rebounds hurt us again," said head coach Cheryl Dozier. "But we were resilient, we played hard in the second half and overtime and we did what we needed to do to win. Jessica was our offense tonight and our defense was there like it's been all year. It wasn't pretty, but we'll take the win and turn our focus to Ohio on Saturday."

The Bulls return home to host Ohio on Saturday, February 1 at 7 pm in Alumni Arena.