CLEVELAND, OH - After a memorable season, the University at Buffalo women's basketball team ran into a buzzsaw in the Mid-American Conference quarterfinals against MAC West Division co-champion Ball State. The Cardinals took advantage of Buffalo injuries and a rare poor shooting performance by the Bulls to score an 81-63 victory to advance to the semifinals of the tournament at Gund Arena.

For Buffalo (18-11) it was the end to a terrific season that saw the Bulls increase their win total by nine games and go further than anyone expected. On this night, however, injuries to two of their top four scorers, Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy) and Erin Lawrenson (Elkland, PA/Elkland), would be too much to overcome against the powerful Cardinals who lost in last year's championship game. MAC Player of the Year Tamara Bowie (22 points) led

Kim Kilpela

four Cardinals in double figures as Ball State improved to 19-8 and will play Miami (OH) in the semis.

"Give Ball State a lot of credit," said UB head coach Cheryl Dozier. "They've been here before and they played with a lot of poise and confidence. We didn't take advantage of some point-blank shots early and dug ourselves a hole we couldn't get out of."

After Buffalo scored the first basket of the game, on a layup by junior Kim Kilpela (West Bloomfield, MI/W. Bloomfield), who scored 12 points for Buffalo, Ball State took a 7-4 lead early. The Bulls would take their last lead of the game at 8-7 on a layup by Kilpela off a feed from freshman Hollie Cook (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads), who would finish with seven points and six assists. After that, however, the Cardinals would embark on a 22-7 run that would push their lead to 29-15 with 8:32 remaining on a layup by Johna Goff.

The Bulls would bounce back, however, with an 11-2 run - with Kilpela scoring four points, including a putback - to cut the lead to 31-26 with 4:36 remaining. Ball State would take control of the game for good, however, by ending the first half with a 13-4 run to close the half with a 44-30 lead. The Cardinals had 10 of their 14 offensive rebounds in the first half and hurt Buffalo with putbacks as well as at the charity stripe. Ball State had nine second-chance points in the half and outscored the Bulls from the line by seven points (9-of-12 to 2-of-4 from the line).

" The trademark of our team has been defense and we gave up 44 points in the first half," said Dozier. "Against a team as talented as Ball State, they have to have one look and one look only."

"We were getting good looks at the basket," said senior Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe (Nelson, New Zealand/Nelson College for Girls), who was held to six points. "The offense was working fine, we did what we needed to do, we

Brooke Meunier

just didn't make shots. Everyone of their players brought it to us...they were on and we were one step behind."

After Buffalo scored the first bucket of the second half on a layup by senior Rachel Martin (Kenmore, NY/Kenmore West) to cut the lead to 44-32, the Cardinals would score 13 straight points to end UB's hopes of a berth in the semifinals.

Freshman Brooke Meunier (Saginaw, MI/Heritage) led Buffalo with 13 points and added five rebounds, while sophomore Allison Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) had 11 points and five rebounds.

"Our kids can walk out of this building tonight with their heads held high," said Dozier afterwards. "They had a great season, doubling our win total from last year and finishing the season strong. We've got a lot of talented young kids in this program who will learn from this experience."