BUFFALO, NY - Junior Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy) scored a game-high 25 points and the University at Buffalo women's basketball team outscored the visiting Bowling Green Falcons by a 44-31 margin in the second half en route to a 72-60 win in front of 707 fans in Alumni Arena. The Bulls scored 38 points in the paint in the game and shot 57.6 percent from the floor in the second half (19-for-33) to improve their record to 12-9 overall and 4-6 in the Mid-American Conference. Bowling Green (10-11, 3-7 MAC) was led by Francine Miller with 21 points.

Brooke Meunier

The Falcons opened the scoring in the game on a jumper by Karen Stocz, and they quickly jumped out to an eight-point lead, 12-4, just over five minutes into the game. They led 14-6 before the Bulls tied the score at 14-14 with an 8-0 run, keyed by freshman Brooke Meunier (Saginaw, MI/Heritage) who came off the bench to score four points during that stretch. Meunier later hit the second of two free throws with 19 seconds to play in the half to give the Bulls their first lead of the game, 28-27, but Bowling Green's Lindsay Austin was fouled on a shot with 0.4 seconds on the clock and made both free throws to send the Falcons to the lockerroom with a 29-28 lead. The Bulls committed 13 turnovers in the first half that BGSU turned into 12 points.

A jumper by Kochendorfer at the 17:05 mark of the second half erased Bowling Green's last lead of the game and was part of a 9-0 Buffalo run that put the Bulls up by six, 39-33, with 15:23 to play in the game. Bowling Green's Stefanie Wenzel, who scored 51 points in two meetings with the Bulls last season, threatened to spoil the Bulls' efforts once again when she hit three three-pointers over the next five minutes to help the Falcons tie the score at 44-44 with 9:35 on the clock. Meunier then hit a three-pointer to put the Bulls up 47-44 and Wenzel then tied the score at 47-47 with her fourth three of the half, but Meunier followed up with a three on the other end of the court to begin an 11-0 UB run that gave the Bulls their first double-digit lead of the game, 58-47, with 5:24 showing on the clock. A steal and a layup by freshman Hollie Cook (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) capped the run, and the Bulls led by as many as 13 points down the stretch.

In addition to Kochendorfer's 25 points, the Bulls had two other players finish in double figures in scoring. Meunier tied her career high with 13 points while also grabbing a career-high eight rebounds, and sophomore Allison Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) finished with 10 points while also tying her career high with seven rebounds. Both Meunier and Bennett scored eight points in the second half to help the Bulls' comeback. Freshman Trisha Hedges (Toronto, Ontario/Richview C.I.) set career highs in both points (nine) and rebounds (seven), and Cook finished with eight points, eight assists and four steals for the Bulls. Buffalo outrebounded Bowling Green by a 40-33 margin in the game and shot 47.5 percent from the floor (29-for-61).

Miller had eight rebounds and three steals to go along with her 21 points for the Falcons, and Wenzel finished with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from three-point range, including 12 points in the second half. The Falcons were 10-of-29 from three-point range in the game (34.5 percent), and they shot 35.7 percent from the floor (20-for-56) in the game.

"I obviously wasn't happy with our turnovers in the first half, but we settled down and played the way we are capable of playing in the second half," said Buffalo head coach Cheryl Dozier. "I was pleased with our balanced attack. I thought three of our freshmen, Brooke Meunier, Hollie Cook and Trisha Hedges, gave us a great effort, and I thought Jessica Kochendorfer shot the ball very well. I was definitely very pleased to get a win tonight."

The Bulls close out their three-game homestand with a 2 pm matchup with Western Michigan on Sunday, February 16 in Alumni Arena.