Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe

ATHENS, OH - Senior Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe (Nelson, New Zealand/Hawaii) led three players in double figures with a career-high 30 points to send the University at Buffalo women's basketball team to a 76-59 win at Ohio. The Bulls jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game, increased that lead to double digits, 16-5, at the 15:10 mark of the first half, and then led by at least 10 points for the remainder of the game. The Bulls shot 53.4 percent from the floor (31-for-58) compared to Ohio's 40.0 percent (20-for-50), and they outrebounded the Bobcats by a 37-26 margin. The win improves the Bulls' record to 14-9 overall and 6-6 in the Mid-American Conference while Ohio drops to 7-17 overall and 3-10 in the MAC.

McMeeken-Ruscoe opened the scoring with a three-pointer on the first possession of the game to help the Bulls set the tempo early on. Buffalo shot 58.1 percent from the floor (18-for-31) and had three players reach double figures in the first half, led by McMeeken-Ruscoe with 16 points. Junior Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy) scored 13 of her 15 points and junior Kim Kilpela (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) scored all 10 of her points in the first 20 minutes of play, helping the Bulls to an 18-point halftime lead, 46-28. Buffalo forced 14 Ohio turnovers in the first half and scored 15 points off of those turnovers. The Bulls led by as many as 22 points on two occasions in the second half en route to the 76-59 win. They scored 32 points in the paint in the game and 20 points off of 22 OU turnovers.

"This was a huge team win for us on the road," said head coach Cheryl Dozier. "It gives us three wins in a row and gets us back at .500 in the conference. Our players knew it was an important game for us, and I thought we really came out strong and did a lot of things well throughout the game. Everything is starting to gel, and that's just what we need entering this final stretch of the regular season."

McMeeken-Ruscoe also finished with five rebounds, five assists and five steals for the Bulls, and her 13 field goals on the night were also a career high. Sophomore Allison Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) finished with seven points, all in the second half, two assists and two steals, and freshman Hollie Cook (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) added five points, two rebounds, seven assists and four steals. Freshman Brooke Meunier (Saginaw, MI/Heritage) led Buffalo with six rebounds.

The Bulls are at Central Michigan next for a 2 pm game on Saturday, February 22.