Brooke Meunier

BUFFALO, NY - Sophomore Brooke Meunier (Saginaw, MI/Heritage) hit a jumper and a free throw in the final 27 seconds of the game to put the icing on the cake of the University at Buffalo women's basketball team's 65-61 win over the visiting Toledo Rockets in front of 576 fans in Alumni Arena. With the win, the Bulls, who entered the game with an 0-6 all-time record versus the Rockets, improved to 5-13 overall and 3-5 in the Mid-American Conference while Toledo drops to 10-10 overall and 6-3 in the MAC. The game also snapped a three-game losing streak for the Bulls and a three-game winning streak for the Rockets.

With the score tied at 17-17 midway through the first half, the Rockets embarked on a 16-8 run to go up by eight, 33-25, with 1:17 showing on the clock. The Bulls scored the final six points in the half on a jumper by senior Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy), a layup by junior Allison Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) and another layup by Kochendorfer to cut their deficit to two at halftime, 33-31.

Meunier's jumper on the Bulls' first possession of the second half tied the score at 33-33, and she later hit a three-pointer to end a 12-3 Buffalo run to open the half and put the Bulls ahead by seven, 43-36. The Bulls led by as many as nine points, 55-46 with 8:13 remaining in the game, but the Rockets would not fold and gradually chipped away to cut the lead to three, 60-57, with 2:34 left on the clock. Junior Talia Merlino (Newtown, PA/Notre Dame (NJ) HS) and Toledo's Mary Blessing exchanged buckets to make the score 62-59, and Karin Hoogendam then got the Rockets within one, 62-61, with a second-chance bucket with 57 seconds to play. The Bulls called a timeout, and Meunier knocked down a tough shot from the top of the key over Blessing with the shot clock winding down to put the Bulls up 64-61 with 27 seconds left.

Jessica Kochendorfer

Toledo's Leah Gonnella then missed a three-pointer and Meunier grabbed the defensive rebound and was fouled by Blessing. With 12 seconds to play, Meunier missed her first shot but made her second to put the game out of reach at 65-61. Toledo's Julie Hillis had a desperation three-point attempt with four seconds remaining, but Kochendorfer emphatically blocked it and grabbed the ball to secure the Buffalo victory.

The Bulls had four players reach double figures in scoring for the second straight game. Meunier led the Bulls with a game-high 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor, and she also tied her career high with nine rebounds. Kochendorfer recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Merlino and senior Kim Kilpela (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) added 12 points apiece. Merlino's 12 points are a career high. The Bulls shot 47.1 percent from the floor in the game (24-for-51) and they outrebounded Toledo by a 40-34 margin.

Toledo was led by Blessing with 14 points and four assists, Hoogendam with 11 points and eight rebounds and Kelly Walker with 10 points. The Rockets shot 35.8 percent from the floor in the game (24-for-67).

"I challenged our team and they really stepped up tonight," said Buffalo head coach Cheryl Dozier. "We continued to be aggressive and we played really good defense. I can't say enough about how we came out and played tonight. You can't ask seven kids to play any better than that."

The Bulls, who have just eight players on their active roster, were down to seven for tonight's game as freshman Kelly Calderone (Freedom, PA/Ambridge) was sidelined with symptoms of a concussion suffered during the Bulls' game at Ball State on Saturday, January 24.

Buffalo now travels to Ohio University for a 1 pm contest on Saturday, February 7.