WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

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BUFFALO, NY - University at Buffalo women's basketball head coach Cheryl Dozier has announced another addition to the Bulls' 2004-05 roster. Viorica Badinici (Turku, Finland/Central Florida Community College) played her freshman season at Central Florida Community College and will have three years of eligibility remaining at Buffalo, beginning with the 2004-05 season.

Badinici, a 6-3 forward, was a Mid-Florida All-Conference First Team pick after helping the Lady Patriots to a 23-7 overall record, 12-0 in the Mid-Florida Conference, and to the conference championship title in 2003-04. Badinici averaged 8.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.0 steals per game in 30 games last season while shooting 42.2 percent from the floor (100-for-237) and 43.3 percent from three-point range (42-for-97). She was named Women's Basketball Player of the Week by the Florida Community College Activities Association (FCCAA) on January 9 after scoring a season-high 24 points and adding six rebounds and five assists in CFCC's 69-65 win over defending state and national champion Gulf Coast Community College on January 4. The win snapped Gulf Coast's National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) record three-year, 88-game regular season winning streak. Central Florida Community College finished the season ranked 13th in the final NJCAA poll of 2003-04.

Badinici's mother played professional basketball in Romania and was one of the best women's players in the country's history.

"We are very excited about having Vio join our basketball family," said Dozier. "She brings a tremendous amount of versatility to our program. She has the ability to play facing the basket as well as with her back to it. She has size that we need, she posts up strong and she can also hit the three. The opportunity to have her for three years coming from a junior college program is also a benefit."

Badinici brings the Bulls' incoming class up to six players, including freshmen Stephanie Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge), Heather Turner (West Seneca, NY/Mount Mercy Academy), Barbora Homolova (Ceska Lipa, Czech Republic/Strakonice), Diana Orozco Gollaz (León Guanajuato, Mexico/Tec de Monterrey-León) and Flynn Pyykkonen (Clarkston, MI/Marian).