WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

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RedHawks Shoot Past Bulls, 84-55

Stephanie Bennett

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team dropped a contest with a red-hot shooting Miami RedHawks squad, falling, 84-55, Wednesday night at Alumni Arena. Miami shot 64.3 percent in the second half as UB dropped its third straight game. The Bulls are now 12-13 on the season and 5-7 in the MAC.

Miami never trailed in the game, scoring the first four points and leading wire-to-wire. Just seven minutes into the game, Miami already had a 14-point lead as it was up on Buffalo 18-4. UB cut into the lead by going on an 11-4 run, but Miami responded with a three to go back up by 10. A layup by Heather Turner (West Seneca, NY/Mount Mercy Academy) cut the Miami lead to 25-17 with 7:33 left in the half, but neither team would be able to hit a shot for the next six minutes of play, until Miami’s Amanda Jackson hit a three with 1:25 left. The RedHawks ended up taking a 12-point lead into the half.

In the second half, Miami scored 53 points, becoming the second straight team to score 50 in the second half against UB. The Bulls managed to get the RedHawk lead within 14 with 9:30 left, but Miami finished the game on a 26-11 run. Miami held its largest lead in the half at 30 with 30 seconds left before the Bulls were able to hit a free throw for the final margin.

Tieara Jones

The Bulls were led by 14 points from senior Stephanie Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge). Bennett also had a team-high five assists on the night. Turner added 10 points and five rebounds, while freshman Jessica Fortman (Ashland, KY/Russell) had 10 points, five rebounds and a game-high two blocked shots. Freshman Tieara Jones (Youngstown, OH/Rayen) tied her career-high with seven rebounds. Jones added four points and two assists. Also coming off the bench was junior Dortae Freeman (Detroit, MI/Cass Technical) who had eight points on 4-of-5 shooting. Freeman had three assists and two steals.

The RedHawks, who improved to 17-9 on the year and 9-3 in the MAC, were led by 30 points from Jackson, who is the MAC’s leading scorer. Jenna Schone added 18 points and seven assists, while Laura Markwood pulled in a game-high 10 rebounds.

“In the last two games everything has been going wrong for us at the defensive end,” said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. “We haven’t been able to defend ball screens, off ball screens, the communication piece. Our defensive footwork at this point of the season should be a lot quicker than it is and we aren’t getting out to defend threes quick enough.”

The Bulls will try and end their three game slide as they head to Ohio this Saturday afternoon. Tip off with the Bobcats is set for 3:30 pm.