Bulls Nearly Pull Off Upset Of Nationally-Ranked Bowling Green

Kourtney Brown finishes with 30 points and 14 rebounds

Kourtney Brown

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team went head-to-head with the 25th-ranked team in the nation on Wednesday night and it took an extra five minutes of basketball before the visiting Bowling Green Falcons defeated the Bulls, 89-82, at Alumni Arena. The Bulls shot nearly 49 percent from the floor, their highest total in MAC play.

From the opening tip, the Bulls looked determined to give the Falcons and their 23-game winning streak a run for their money. The Falcons took a six-point lead early on with 14:57 left, but a three from Rachelle Matthys put the Bulls within one. Back-to-back layups capped off a 7-0 UB run and that put the Bulls up by one. The Bulls never led by more than three points in the opening half and there were six ties in the opening 20 minutes. Following the sixth tie at 2:53, the Falcons ended the half on an 8-2 run, taking a six-point lead into the half.

Jamie Schiebner

Bowling Green opened the second half with a three and took its largest lead of the game at nine. The Bulls started fighting back as layups by Kourtney Brown and Jamie Schiebner pulled UB to within five. With 14:43 left in the half and the Bulls down four, UB staged a 10-0 run over the next four and a half minutes, taking their largest lead of the game, 49-43, with 10:19 left in the half. The Falcons answered that run with a 7-0 run of their own to go up by one with 7:20 left in the half. Over the next five minutes, the two teams exchanged the lead back and forth, with BG ultimately going up by four with 1:59 left in the half. The Bulls cut it to two with 1:12 left on two free throws from Dayna Smith. The Falcons retook a four-point lead before Brown cut it to two on a layup with 56 seconds left. BG then missed a layup giving the Bulls the ball back with just over 30 seconds left. Freshman Brittany Hedderson kept the ball in her hands and drilled a jumper to tie the game up with 13 seconds left. The Falcons had one last opportunity, but a missed layup sent the game into overtime tied at 66-66, which was the 12th time in the game that the two teams were tied.

The two teams then embarked on an overtime for the ages where both teams were draining shots. The Bulls hit their first six shots in overtime, including two huge three-pointers from Schiebner. The Falcons had an answer each time though as they hit seven of their first eight field goals, including five straight three-pointers from Tracy Pontius. The fifth three broke an 82-82 tie, the 15th of the game. The Bulls tried to tie it up on their possession, but a couple missed three-point attempts led to four Bowling Green free throws. The two teams combined for 39 points in overtime, which is a new NCAA record. The old record was set back on Dec. 30, 1989 when Maine and Stetson combined for 36 points in one overtime period.

“I am pleased in the way we fought tonight against one of the top teams in the nation,” said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. “I thought we executed our game plan well, but you have to give them credit, they hit some big shots when they needed to.”

Brittany Hedderson

The Bulls had four players in double figures led by the second 30-point game of the season for Brown. She finished with a game-high 30 points and a career-best 14 rebounds, while adding two blocks, a steal and an assist in 44 minutes of action. Brown played nearly the final eight minutes of the game with four fouls. Schiebner added 18 points and tied season highs with her eight rebounds and four three-pointers. Fortman added 10 points and six rebounds, while Bridgette Kendricks added 10 points off the bench. Hedderson finished with a game-high nine assists, while adding six points and three rebounds.

As a team, the Bulls shot 48.6 percent from the floor, their highest in MAC play. After a 41.4 percent shooting performance in the first half, the Bulls shot a red-hot 51.7 percent from the floor in the second half. In overtime, UB shot 58.3 percent from the floor, after hitting its first six shots.

Bridgette Kendricks

The Falcons were led by four players in double figures, but it was their 24-of-24 performance from the free throw line that ultimately won the game for them. Pontius had 27 points, with 17 of those coming in the overtime period. Niki McCoy added 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Lauren Prochaska finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.

The Bulls will close out the home portion of their schedule on Saturday afternoon as they host Akron at 2:00 pm at Alumni Arena. The Bulls will honor their two seniors prior to the game. Saturday is also National Girls and Women In Sports Day. Check buffalobulls.com for more information.