Strong Defense Leads Bulls To First Win

Kourtney Brown records a career-high 22 points

Kourtney Brown

YOUNGSTOWN, OH – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team led wire-to-wire defeating Youngstown State, 66-42, Wednesday night at the Beeghly Center. The win, which was UB's first of the season, was a total team effort as the Bulls forced 32 YSU turnovers.

Unlike in its first two games, UB got off to a quick start by scoring the first five points of the game. The Bulls extended their lead to 9-2 at the 16:29 mark of the first half on a jumper by Jessica Fortman. Up 15-11 in the half, redshirt sophomore Kourtney Brown scored the next 13 points, keying UB to a 13-2 run, putting it up 28-13. After YSU cut it to 13, freshman Beth Christensen scored the final five points of the half, as UB went into the half up 33-15.

Beth Christensen

Youngstown State began to make a comeback in the second half as the Penguins cut the deficit to as little as seven with 11:22 left. However, with the Bulls up 42-35, UB went on a 17-0 run to extend its lead to 59-35. Five different players contributed points during that run, including four points from freshman Brittany Hedderson who also had four assists during that run.

"We are lucky to come away with a 24-point win with the way we turned the ball over," said fourth-year head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "It helped that they turned the ball over more than we did and I thought we did a good job capitalizing on their mistakes tonight."

The Bulls received scoring from 10 different players as all 11 players that dressed saw at least six minutes of action. Brown led the way with a career-high 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting. The nine field goals are also a career best and Brown was a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Christensen added seven points and a career-best 13 rebounds, including nine on the defensive end. Fortman added eight points and six rebounds, while Hedderson added six points and six assists. Junior Dayna Smith scored five points and had three steals in just seven minutes of action.

Brittany Hedderson

As a team, the Bulls shot 49.1% from the field, including 52.0% in the first half. In addition to UB's hot shooting, the Penguins had a tough time finding their shot as they hit just 29.4% of their shots, including an 0-for-13 performance from behind the arc.

Youngstown State was led by 13 points from Tiara Scott and eight points from Macey Nortey. Scott and Nikita LaFleur each had six rebounds.

The Bulls will be back in action this Saturday afternoon as they host Delaware at Alumni Arena. Tip off is set for 1:00 pm.