BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo women's basketball team extended its winning streak to five games with a 67-51 win over visiting Akron in front of 708 fans in Alumni Arena. Senior Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe (Nelson, New Zealand/Hawaii) had her eighth 20-plus scoring performance of the season with a game-high 23 points to lead the Bulls' attack. With the win, Buffalo improved to 16-9 overall and 8-6 in the Mid-American Conference. The loss dropped Akron's record to 2-23 overall and 1-13 in the MAC.

Hollie Cook

Akron's Cassandra Martin opened the scoring with a jumper at the 19:22 mark of the first half, but the Bulls then went on an 11-2 run to go up by seven, 11-4, six minutes into the game. UA's Dominique Harris then hit a three-pointer, but Buffalo freshman Brooke Meunier (Saginaw, MI/Heritage) answered back with a three-pointer of her own that began a 7-0 UB run that gave the Bulls their first double-digit lead of the game, 18-7, at the 11:41 mark. The Zips did not back down, however, and they battled back to get within one, 20-19, with 7:58 to play in the half and then tied the score at 24-24 with 1:58 to go on a jumper by Raegan Johnson. McMeeken-Ruscoe immediately put the Bulls back up on top with a three-pointer on their next possession, and freshman Hollie Cook (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) then found junior Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy) for an easy layup that gave the Bulls a five-point lead at halftime, 29-24.

The Bulls began the second half with a 7-0 run and never looked back from that point on, leading by as many as 20 points during the remainder of the game. They did a better job of taking care of the basketball, committing just five turnovers in the final 20 minutes of the game after committing 12 in the first half that Akron converted into 11 points. The Bulls shot 52.0 percent from the floor in the game (26-for-50) compared to 36.4 percent by Akron (20-for-55), and they hit 10-of-13 free throws while Akron struggled from the foul line, making just six of 14 attempts.

"I feel really good about what we're doing right now and how we're playing down the stretch," said Buffalo head coach Cheryl Dozier. "We've been doing a really good job of running our offenses and taking what the defense gives us. Akron played hard, but we matched their intensity and played the type of defense we needed to in order to win the game. I told our team coming out of the lockerroom at halftime that the first five minutes of the second half would dictate the outcome of the game, and it definitely did."

Kochendorfer also finished in double figures for the Bulls with 14 points, while junior Kim Kilpela (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Cook had a solid night with seven points, nine assists and a career-high six steals. The Zips were led by Harris with 19 points and Martin with 15 points. Johnson pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds, including seven offensive. Akron outrebounded the Bulls by a 37-28 margin in the game.

The Bulls are at Miami (OH) on Saturday, March 1 for a 2 pm contest before closing out the regular season on Tuesday, March 4 at home against Kent State at 7 pm. Those two games are critical in determining whether or not the Bulls will host a first-round MAC Tournament game. The top three seeds receive a first-round bye and seeds four through eight host a first-round game on Saturday, March 8. While there is still a lot that can happen as the regular season winds down, the Bulls are currently in a tie for fifth place overall with Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan. If the season were to end today, Buffalo would earn the fifth seed as a result of its regular-season wins over both the Broncos and the Eagles.