KENT, OH - The Kent State Golden Flashes had five players score in double figures, led by 17 points from Malika Willoughby, en route to a 27-point victory, 80-53, over the University at Buffalo women's basketball team tonight in front of 1,338 fans at the M.A.C. Center in Kent, OH. The loss drops Buffalo's record to 6-18 overall and 4-10 in the Mid-American Conference, while Kent State improves to 17-8 overall and 10-4 in the MAC.

The Golden Flashes hit seven of their first nine shots in the game, a .778 shooting percentage, to jump out to a 15-6 lead just over four minutes into the game and they never looked back from there.

Allison Bennett

A three-pointer by junior Talia Merlino (Newtown, PA/Notre Dame (NJ) HS) at the 11:39 mark made the score 19-12 before Kent State embarked on a 13-0 run, holding the Bulls scoreless for a span of almost six minutes, to go up by 20, 32-12. Merlino ended the scoreless stretch with another three-pointer, but the Golden Flashes kept pounding away and led by 23 at halftime, 42-19. Kent State finished the half shooting 50.0 percent from the floor (18-for-36) and scoring 22 points in the paint and 19 points off of 14 Buffalo turnovers. The Bulls shot just 32.0 percent in the half (8-for-25), with Merlino's six points leading the way.

A 10-3 Kent State run got the Golden Flashes out to their largest lead of the game at 33 points, 71-38, with 7:56 remaining in the game. Kent State finished the game with a 48.3 shooting percentage (29-for-60) and a 38.5 percentage from three-point range (5-for-13). KSU scored a total of 38 points in the paint and 27 points off of turnovers.

"Kent State just dominated the game tonight," said Buffalo head coach Cheryl Dozier. "They outplayed us in every facet of the game. I'll give our team credit for playing hard and for not quitting, but we didn't play smart, we didn't communicate well and we didn't do the little things that we needed to do."

Junior Allison Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) finished as the Bulls' leading scorer with 10 points, all in the second half, while senior Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy), sophomore Brooke Meunier (Saginaw, MI/Heritage) and freshman Kelly Calderone (Freedom, PA/Ambridge) added nine points apiece. Kochendorfer grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and also blocked two shots, putting her one block away from tying the school record for career blocks (159). The Bulls shot 32.8 percent from the floor in the game (19-for-58) and hit seven three-pointers, including two apiece from Bennett, Calderone and Merlino.

In addition to Willoughby's 17 points, Melissa DeGrate (14), Heather Harris (13), Lindsay Shearer (11) and Andrea Csaszar (10) also reached double figures in scoring for the Golden Flashes. Willoughby also led Kent State with seven rebounds and eight assists. The Golden Flashes outrebounded the Bulls by a 41-38 margin.

Buffalo will play its third straight game on the road on Saturday, February 28 at Miami (OH) at 2 pm before returning home to close out the regular season against Ohio on Tuesday, March 2 at 7 pm.