Bulls Zip Past Akron, 65-59

Heather Turner leads three players in double figures with 15 points

Heather Turner

AKRON, OH – The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team led wire-to-wire en route to a 65-59 victory at Akron, Saturday afternoon at Rhodes Arena. The victory for the Bulls locks up the fifth seed in the MAC East for UB as it has one more game remaining before the conference tournament. UB improved its record to 10-17 and 5-10 in conference. Both the overall and conference wins mark tie last years total. Akron drops to 10-17 and 3-12 in the MAC.

The Bulls took control in the first half by using a 20-8 run over a 10-minute span in the half. UB’s largest lead of the opening half was 13 after Barborá Homolova (Ceska Lipa, Czech Republic/Strakonice) hit a layup with 1:18 remaining in the opening half. The Bulls would ultimately take an 11-point lead into halftime.

In the second half, Buffalo increased its lead to as many as 14 on a layup by sophomore Jamie Schiebner (Saginaw, MI/Heritage). From there Akron would begin to stage a comeback and would cut the UB lead to as little as two on a few occasions. However, UB never folded and hit its foul shots in the end to earn the victory, its second straight win.

“I thought our players did a nice job sharing the ball today,” said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. “The defense played well and kept most of the Akron players off balance.”

The Bulls had three players in double figures, including 15 points from junior Heather Turner (West Seneca, NY/Mount Mercy Academy) who also had a team-high six rebounds. Turner moved into 13th place on UB’s all-time scoring list with the performance. Turner completed the day as she forced three steals on the defensive end. Schiebner had 10 points and fours boards, while junior Stephanie Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) had 10 points and five rebounds. While Akron was celebrating its Senior Day before the game, it was a UB senior that provided another solid game for the Bulls. Belinda Gibb (Denmark, Western Australia/Willetton) had eight points on a perfect three-of-three shooting from the floor. Gibb also had a game-high six assists and pulled in four rebounds. Sophomore Rachelle Matthys (St. Clair, MI/St. Clair) had nine points, including a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.

Jamie Schiebner

Eight different players recorded points for the Bulls, including 13 off the bench. Freshman Kourtney Brown (Solon, OH/Solon) had six points and a block, while Ashley Zuber (Schnecksville, PA/Parkland) had five points, including her second career three pointer.

Akron was led by 27 points from Niki McCoy, who went a perfect 14-of-14 from the line. As a team, Akron hit all 20 of its foul shots. Sarah Tokodi was the only other player in double figures as she had 16 points on the night.

The Bulls wrap up the regular season on Wednesday night as they travel to Kent State to face the Golden Flashes. Tip off is set for 7:00 pm.

02/24/2007