Brooke Meunier

BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo women's basketball team cut its 11-point halftime deficit to three points early in the second half, but the visiting Kent State Golden Flashes then went on a 17-6 run in a span of three minutes and 43 seconds to blow the game open en route to a 19-point victory, 85-66, in front of 851 fans in Alumni Arena. The Bulls (5-15 overall, 3-7 Mid-American Conference) shot the ball better than the Golden Flashes (13-8, 6-4), 51.2 percent to 45.2 percent, but Kent State hit timely threes and took advantage of costly Buffalo turnovers to earn the win.

Kent State jumped out to an early eight-point lead, 12-4, with 15:59 on the clock, but the Bulls battled to tie the score at 14-14 on two free throws by junior Allison Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) with 12:44 remaining in the first half. The Golden Flashes then embarked on a 7-0 run and led by as many as 15 points before taking an 11-point lead into the lockerroom at halftime, 37-26. La'kia Stewart (eight) and Lindsay Shearer (seven) combined for 15 of KSU's final 23 points in the half.

Talia Merlino

Back-to-back three-pointers by junior Talia Merlino (Newtown, PA/Notre Dame (NJ) HS) ended a 15-7 Buffalo run to open the second half and get the Bulls within three, 44-41, with 14:06 remaining in the game. The Golden Flashes hit three three-pointers in the next three minutes, the final one by Heather Harris increasing their lead to double digits, 59-47, and giving them control of the game. Kent State led by as many as 25 points down the stretch.

The Bulls shot 60.9 percent in the second half (14-for-23) and 51.2 percent for the game (21-for-41), and they tied their season high with eight three-pointers, including a career-high four by Merlino. Bennett and sophomore Brooke Meunier (Saginaw, MI/Heritage) each scored a team-high 13 points, while Meunier also grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for her first career double-double. Merlino and freshman Dina Atanas (Brantford, Ontario/St. John's College) each tied their career highs with 12 points, giving the Bulls four players in double figures for the third time in the last four games.

Kent State was led by Melissa DeGrate with 20 points, including four three-pointers, and Shearer with 18 points and nine rebounds. The Golden Flashes shot 45.2 percent from the floor for the game (33-for-73), and they outrebounded the Bulls by a 39-28 margin. KSU dominated inside, scoring 38 points in the paint and converting 23 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points. The Golden Flashes also scored 17 points off of Buffalo's 25 turnovers.

"We were right there with them early in the second half," said Buffalo head coach Cheryl Dozier. "We shot well tonight, but we turned the ball over and that hurt us. They sort of blew things open with three pointers and they also really hurt us with offensive rebounding. Kent State has a lot of depth, especially in the post, and that was a factor also."

The Bulls played with just seven players as they were without senior forward Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy), who suffered a concussion in the game at Ohio on Saturday.

Buffalo next hosts Akron on Saturday, February 14 at 1 pm in Alumni Arena. The game is a doubleheader with UB's men's team, which takes on Central Michigan following the women's game.