WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

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Hollie Cook

BUFFALO, NY ­ The University at Buffalo women's basketball team suffered its fourth straight loss this afternoon, dropping a 64-55 decision to the visiting Oakland Golden Grizzlies. The Bulls (1-6) were led by sophomore Hollie Cook (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) with 14 points and senior Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy) with 11 points.

The Golden Grizzlies (6-4) led by eight, 16-8, midway through the first half before a layup by Cook capped a 10-2 Buffalo run to tie the score at 18-18 with 2:33 left on the clock. Oakland finished the half with a 9-2 run, however, to go into the lockerroom with a 27-20 lead. The Bulls shot just 26.9 percent from the floor in the first half (7-for-26) compared to Oakland's 39.1 percent (9-for-23).

Oakland used a 12-1 run in the second half to open up its largest lead of the game at 21 points, 52-31, with 7:21 to play in the game, but the Bulls battled back with a 22-9 run over the next six minutes. Senior Kim Kilpela (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) scored all three of her buckets in the game during the run, and junior Allison Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) hit a jumper and a three-pointer on back-to-back possessions to help give the Bulls a chance. Two free throws by sophomore Brooke Meunier (Saginaw, MI/Heritage) completed the run and got the Bulls within eight, 61-53, with 48 seconds left to play, but Buffalo missed three shots while Oakland went 3-of-6 from the foul line to get its lead to double-digits. A layup by junior Tahcahrah Owens (Decatur, AL/Northwest-Shoals Community College) with one second to play ended the game at 64-55.

"We struggled offensively again in the first half, and we can't afford to keep getting down early on," said Buffalo head coach Cheryl Dozier. "We have some time off now for the holidays, and we need to regroup because things aren't going to get any easier - playing Colorado and then getting into Mid-American Conference play in January."

The Bulls shot 51.9 percent from the floor in the second half (14-for-27) and 39.6 percent for the game (21-for-53). Bennett finished with eight points, while junior Talia Merlino (Newtown, PA/Notre Dame (NJ) HS) added six points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. Meunier finished with five points, eight rebounds and two assists.

The Golden Grizzlies shot 38.5 percent from the floor in the game (20-for-52) and outrebounded the Bulls by a 39-29 margin. They were led by Amanda Batcha (12 points, 12 rebounds), Ann Hafeli (15 points) and Jayme Wilson (11 points).

The Bulls are now off until January 3 when they travel to Colorado for a 9 pm ET matchup with the Buffaloes. Colorado is currently ranked 14th in the Associated Press Top 25 and 13th in the USA Today/ESPN/WBCA Top 25.