Free Throw Struggles Cost Bulls At Miami

Heather Turner notches her 1,000th career point while recording her third straight double-double

Heather Turner

OXFORD, OH – The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team was unable to overcome a 5-for-18 performance from the free throw line, falling 71-68 to Miami (OH), Wednesday night at Millett Hall. The loss drops UB to 8-16 on the season and 3-9 in conference play. The RedHawks improve to 12-13 and even their conference record at 6-6. The loss for Buffalo was the third time in conference play that it fell by three points.

After trailing by four early in the contest, the Bulls went on a 14-2 run in the first half, which was capped off by a Stephanie Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) three pointer, giving UB an 8-point advantage. After Miami (OH) cut the lead to six, a historic event in UB history took place as junior Heather Turner (West Seneca, NY/Mount Mercy Academy) was fouled and went to the line for two shots. After missing the first, Turner drained the second to become just the third junior in UB women’s basketball history to surpass the 1,000-point mark for her career. Turner becomes the 16th player all-time to achieve the feat. The Buffalo lead would increase to as many as 10 points before taking the eight-point advantage into the half.

The beginning of the second half belonged to Miami (OH) as it went on a 9-0 run to regain the lead. The Bulls were held without a field goal until the 14:04 mark of the second half and at that point the RedHawks had a five-point lead. UB climbed back as a few Kourtney Brown (Solon, OH/Solon) baskets and a Rachelle Matthys (St. Clair, MI/St. Clair) three gave UB the lead again with 7:13 remaining in the second half. The UB lead would improve to five as Matthys hit another trey with 4:41 remaining.

The RedHawks then began to stage a comeback as Amanda Jackson had four quick points and Jaclyn Leininger hit two free throws to give Miami the lead. The lead would increase to four, but UB didn’t go away as Brown converted on a three-point play to cut the lead to one. Miami then regained its three-point advantage as Buffalo tried to tie it up with its last shot. Bennett put up a three with three seconds remaining, but was unable to get a clean look at the basket.

Kourtney Brown

“We lost the game tonight because we couldn’t hit our free throws,” said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. “We outplayed our opponents in every other aspect of the game, but we shot very poorly from the foul line.”

Matthys led the way for the Bulls with 18 points, while she finished just shy of the double-double with a career-high nine rebounds. Brown also had a career-best nine boards as she finished with 16 points off the bench. Brown finished with four blocks on the night, the highest single-game total of her career. Turner finished with her third straight double-double as she has 11 points and 11 rebounds. With 644 career boards, Turner is the first player in UB women’s basketball history to have 1,000 career points and 600 career rebounds as a junior.

Also giving the Bulls solid minutes was freshman Ashley Zuber (Schnecksville, PA/Parkland) who played a career-high 29 minutes and set personal bests in rebounds and assists, tallying five of each. Zuber also added four points. Bennett finished with eight points and a game-high six assists.

The RedHawks were led by four players in double figures, including 26 points from Jackson. Leininger had a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Ashley Hawkins had 17 points, while Jenna Schone added 10.

Miami (OH) was able to convert on 17-of-19 from the charity stripe, while UB struggled to finish just 5-of-18.

The Bulls return to action this Saturday as they host nationally-ranked Bowling Green in a double header with the UB men’s team. The Bulls and Falcons tip off at 5:00 pm and will be followed by the men’s ESPNU Bracket Buster game against Detroit.

02/14/2007