WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

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Strong Defense Leads Bulls To Senior Night Victory, 50-44

Stephanie Bennett

The Bulls started the first half with all five of their seniors in the starting lineup as Turner was joined by Stephanie Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge), Barbora Homolová (Ceska Lipa, Czech Republic/Strakonice), Flynn Pyykkonen (Clarkston, MI/Birmingham Marion) and Diana Orozco Gollaz (León Guanajuato, Mexico/Tec de Monterry-León). The Bulls scored the first basket of the game as Orozco Gollaz found Turner under the basket for an easy two. Turner scored the first nine points for UB, converting on a three-point play off an assist from Pyykkonen. Homolová then broke the Turner scoring run as she converted on a layup at the 12:55 mark off an assist from Bennett. The Golden Flashes pulled within one, but Bennett converted on a three to give UB a 14-10 lead. The Golden Flashes then went on a 9-2 run to take their first lead of the game, up 19-16. That lead was short lived as Bennett converted on another triple, which tied the game up. Freshman Tieara Jones (Youngstown, OH/Rayen) put UB ahead for good on a jumper with 1:53 left and Bennett hit a running jumper at the buzzer to send the Bulls into the half up 23-19.

Diana Orozco Gollaz

The Bulls got their lead up to as many as 15 in the second half as they used a 12-0 run in just over a four minute period early in the half. Jones had six points during that run for UB. Kent State did make the game interesting as they fought back to cut the UB lead to five with 1:47 left in the half. Junior Dortae Freeman (Detroit, MI/Cass Technical) was able to knock down both of her free throws and after a Kent State basket, sophomore Ashley Zuber (Schnecksville, PA/Parkland) hit a free throw to give UB the six-point win.

Barbora Homolová

Turner was the only player to record double figures as she had 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor. Turner also had a career-high 17 rebounds, which is tied for fourth in school history in single-game rebounds. She joins teammate Jamie Schiebner (Sagniaw, MI/Heritage) who had 17 rebounds in 2005-06 against Northern Illinois. Bennett finished the night with eight points and tied her season-high with eight rebounds. She also had three assists and two steals. Jones came off the bench to score eight points of her own as she added three rebounds, three steals and an assist. As a team, UB recorded eight blocked shots in the game with four coming from Homolová. Schiebner had two, while Zuber and Jessica Fortman (Ashland, KY/Russell) each recorded one.

The UB defense was outstanding throughout the game and the 44 points allowed by the Bulls were the second fewest allowed this season. Kent State shot just 24.6 percent from the floor for the game.

Flynn Pyykkonen

The Golden Flashes were led by 19 points and 11 rebounds from Chenel Harris and seven points and 14 rebounds from Rachel Bennett.

“We must have done something right on the defensive end tonight to hold them to 24.6 percent from the floor,” said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. “I am proud of the defensive effort because when things aren’t clicking on offense, it take a strong defensive effort to make sure things don’t get out of control. I am especially proud of our seniors tonight because they played hard and I think they gave the crowd a very nice show.”

Heather Turner

The Bulls will now head to Cleveland, OH for the Mid-American Conference Tournament. The Bulls will meet the Toledo Rockets in the first round on Monday, March 10 with tip off set for 12:00 pm. The winner of that game will move on to face Ball State on Tuesday.