Jessica Kochendorfer

BUFFALO, NY - The Ohio Bobcats used a late 11-0 run to come from behind and steal a 62-56 victory over the University at Buffalo women's basketball team tonight in front of 673 fans in Alumni Arena in the regular season finale for both teams. Ohio's Erin Isbell scored eight of her game-high 21 points during the run to lead the Bobcats, who finished the regular season with a 13-14 overall record and a 7-9 Mid-American Conference mark. The Bulls (6-20 overall, 4-12 MAC) had four players finish in double figures, led by senior Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy) with 16 points.

The Bulls held the lead for the majority of a tightly-played first half that saw the score tied on six occasions. Ohio's only lead of the half, 21-19, came at the 5:47 mark following a jumper by Isbell, but Buffalo junior Allison Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) fed senior Kim Kilpela (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) for back-to-back layups to get the Bulls out in front once again, 23-21, with 5:00 remaining in the half. Bennett assisted on five of the Bulls' final six buckets in the half, her last one coming on a layup by sophomore Brooke Meunier (Saginaw, MI/Heritage) with 18 seconds on the clock that sent the Bulls to the lockerroom with a 31-29 halftime lead. The Bobcats shot 52.0 percent from the floor in the first half (13-for-25), but they committed 15 turnovers - nine of them travels. The Bulls shot 41.2 percent from the floor in the half (14-for-34).

Allison Bennett

The Bulls increased their lead to as many as eight points early on in the second half, largely thanks to Kochendorfer who scored eight of her 10 second-half point in the first six minutes. After a jumper by Kilpela gave the Bulls a 47-42 lead with 7:47 remaining in the game, the Bobcats embarked on an 11-0 run over a span of two minutes and 28 seconds to take over the lead. Ohio freshman Angel Hornsburger gave OU its first lead of the half, 48-47, with a layup at the 5:56 mark. Meunier was called for an intentional foul on the layup, and Hornsburger made one of the two free throws for a three-point play, and Isbell scored Ohio's other eight points during the 11-0 spurt. Bennett hit a three-pointer for the Bulls with 3:50 on the clock, and Buffalo then blocked three straight OU shots - two by Kochendorfer and one by Kilpela - to keep the Bobcats off the board. A bucket by Meunier then cut the Bobcats' lead to one, 55-54, with 2:37 to play, but Isbell answered with a bucket for the Bobcats and the Bulls were then forced to foul. Buffalo missed its final four field goal attempts in the final 36 seconds of the game in an attempt to come back.

Ohio finished the game shooting 45.0 percent from the floor (27-for-60) and outrebounding the Bulls by a 46-37 margin. Isbell posted a double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds along with her 21 points, and Latreece Bagley also reached double figures with 10 points.

Kochendorfer finished with a team-high 16 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and three steals for the Bulls, and Kilpela scored in double figures for the fourth time in the last five games with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Bennett had 12 points and career-highs of eight rebounds and six assists, and Meunier finished with 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. Buffalo shot 36.9 percent from the floor (24-for-65) in the game.

"We played such great team defense in the first half, forcing them into 15 turnovers, but we only scored four points off of those turnovers so we didn't put the game away," said Buffalo head coach Cheryl Dozier. "In the second half, we just couldn't knock down our shots and we went cold offensively during that late stretch that allowed them to take over the lead. This team plays hard though and we haven't packed it in yet. We'll go into the MAC Tournament with confidence, especially since we beat Marshall during the regular season."

Buffalo is the 11th seed in the 2004 Kraft Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament. The Bulls will travel to No. 6 Marshall for a first-round game on Saturday, March 6 at 1 pm. The winner of the game will advance to the quarterfinals to face No. 3 Kent State on Wednesday, March 10 at 7:30 pm at Gund Arena in Cleveland, OH. Buffalo beat Marshall at home by a 79-60 score on January 17 in the only regular season meeting between the two teams.