BUFFALO, NY - The visiting Northern Illinois Huskies erased a 10-point second-half deficit and charged back behind the play of Stephanie Raymond to earn a dramatic 61-59 win over the University at Buffalo women's basketball team in front of 912 fans in Alumni Arena in the Bulls' last home game of the 2004-05 season. The win snapped a nine-game losing streak for the Huskies who upped their record to 7-19 overall and 4-11 in the Mid-American Conference. The Bulls suffered their seventh straight loss and fell to 4-22 overall and 2-13 in the conference.

The Bulls hit back-to-back three-pointers, one by freshman Stephanie Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) and one by senior Allison Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge), that began an 8-0 run to open the second half and give them their first and only double-digit lead of the game, 38-28, with 17:51 to play. The Huskies would not back down, however, and a later 8-0 run, including three-pointers by Raymond and Rachel Sillar, gave NIU its first lead of the game, 49-48, with 6:49 on the clock. The Huskies had a one-point lead with just over four minutes to play, 53-52, but another three-pointer by Allison Bennett and two free throws by freshman Heather Turner (West Seneca, NY/Mount Mercy Academy) put the Bulls up by four, 57-53, with 3:35 to go.

Brooke Meunier

The Huskies battled back to tie the score at 57-57 with 2:07 remaining, and Allison Bennett and Jamie Wilson then exchanged jumpers to tie the score at 59-59 with 1:24 remaining in the game. The Bulls missed two shots on their next possession and then allowed the Huskies to grab two offensive rebounds on the other end of the floor before Wilson was fouled. She made both clutch free throws with 12 seconds on the clock that proved to be the difference in the game. The Bulls were unable to get a shot off on their final possession before time expired.

Junior Brooke Meunier (Saginaw, MI/Heritage) scored the Bulls' first seven points in the game and Buffalo jumped out to a 10-3 lead early in the first half. The Huskies tied the score at 17-17 and then at 19-19, but sophomore transfer Viorica Badinici (Turku, Finland/Central Florida Community College) hit a three to put the Bulls back on top and they held on to the lead for the remainder of the half. A late layup by NIU's Alyssa Verdegan cut Buffalo's lead to 30-28 at the break.

"I was pleased with how we rotated the ball and knocked down shots early on," said Buffalo head coach Cheryl Dozier. "It's tough because we haven't really been in the situation before this year where it's so close at the end of the game. We had a play set for Brooke that we've run before, but she just couldn't clear space on the dribble. It really shouldn't have come down to the last possession, though. We gave up two offensive rebounds late that put us there. What it came down to was that we couldn't get defensive stops when we needed to."

Meunier led the Bulls with 17 points, eight rebounds and three steals, while Stephanie Bennett and senior Talia Merlino (Newtown, PA/Notre Dame (NJ) HS) each chipped in nine points on three three-pointers apiece. The Bulls hit a season-high 10 three-pointers in the game while shooting 43.5 percent from behind the arc (10-for-23). The Bulls shot 43.8 percent from the floor (21-for-48) compared to NIU's 41.2 percent (21-for-51).

Raymond finished with game highs of 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Sillar (12) and Wilson (10) also reached double figures in scoring. The Huskies outrebounded the Bulls by a 34-30 margin, including 12 offensive boards that they converted into 15 second-chance points.

The Bulls travel to Kent State on Tuesday, March 1 for the regular season finale against the Golden Flashes at 7 pm.