WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

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Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe

BUFFALO, NY ­ Junior Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe (Nelson, New Zealand/Hawaii) scored a game-high 15 points and sophomore Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy) chipped in 13 points to lift the University at Buffalo women's basketball team to a 55-43 come-from-behind victory over Seton Hall at Alumni Arena. The Bulls outscored the Pirates by a 37-23 margin in the second half to erase an 18-20 halftime deficit, and they shot 43.2 percent in the game (19-for-44) while holding the Pirates to 29.3 percent (17-for-58). The win tonight gave the Bulls, who were coming off a 49-40 win at East Carolina on Tuesday, December 18, their first back-to-back victories of the season. They improve to 4-5 overall while Seton Hall drops to 6-4 on the season.

"We go as our defense goes, and I thought we played extremely well defensively tonight," said head coach Cheryl Dozier. "I felt we frustrated them the entire night, and the only area that concerned me was rebounding. We had great shot distribution and we cut down on our turnovers in the second half (16 in the first half, five in the second half). I felt that we controlled the tempo of the game and that's really what won it for us."

Two free throws by Seton Hall's Leslie Ardon with 34 seconds on the clock were the difference in an evenly-played first half that saw the Pirates take a 20-18 lead into the lockerroom. The Bulls took their first lead of the second half, 23-22, with 15:32 remaining in the game on a free throw by sophomore Virginia Jennings (Nashville, MI/Hastings), and a jumper by SHU's Ardon tied the game for the last time, 30-30, with 12:03 showing on the clock. The Bulls embarked on an 11-2 run over the next six minutes and 25 seconds, including two buckets apiece from Kochendorfer and freshman Erin Lawrenson (Elkland, PA/Elkland Area). The Pirates shot 3-for-9 from the floor in the final three and a half minutes of the game, and the Bulls wrapped up the win by hitting nine of their final 12 free throws late in the game, including six by Jennings.

Jennings finished with seven points, seven rebounds and a career-high eight assists for the Bulls, and sophomore Kim Kilpela (West Bloomfield, MI/West Bloomfield) added eight points, seven rebounds and a career-high three blocks. The Pirates were led by Susan Murray (seven points, seven rebounds), Cecilia Lindqvist (seven points, four rebounds), Ardon (five points, eight rebounds) and Ashley Bush (two points, eight rebounds, four steals).

The Bulls now have a few days off to enjoy the holidays before heading to New Orleans, LA to participate in the Tulane/Doubletree Classic. Buffalo will play host Tulane, currently ranked 22nd in the nation, in its first game of the tournament on Friday, December 28 at 7 pm EST. The Bulls will face either Virginia or Long Island on the second day of the tournament on Saturday, December 29 at 7 or 9 pm EST.