WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

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BUFFALO, NY ­ The University at Buffalo women's basketball team improved to 7-1 on the season with a 58-52 win over visiting Oakland tonight in Alumni Arena, led by 17 points from senior Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe (Nelson, New Zealand/Hawaii).

Rachel Martin

The Bulls held Oakland to just eight field goals and a 25 percent shooting percentage (8-for-32) in the second half and got two key buckets late in the game from senior Rachel Martin (Kenmore, NY/Kenmore West) to pull away for the win.

The Golden Grizzlies (3-6) opened the scoring on three-pointer by Jayme Wilson, and they held the lead for most of the first half. A three-pointer by sophomore Erin Lawrenson (Elkland, PA/Elkland Area) with 28 seconds on the clock got the Bulls within three, 26-23, at halftime, and the Bulls then came out firing to start the second half and slowly pull away for the win.

Freshman Hollie Cook (Horseheads, NY/Horseheads) stole the ball on Oakland's first possession to open the half and went in for an easy layup and then fed McMeeken-Ruscoe for a jumper that gave the Bulls a lead they would never relinquish, 27-26 with 19:12 on the clock. A 9-3 run midway through the second half gave the Bulls their biggest lead of the game with 9:37 remaining, 42-33, but the Golden Grizzlies did not make things easy for the Bulls down the stretch. A three-point play by Katie Wolfe got Oakland within three, 50-47, with 1:40 to play, but junior Jessica Kochendorfer (Allen, MI/Quincy) answered by converting a three-point play of her own on Buffalo's next possession to put the Bulls back up by six, 53-47. After two free throws by Oakland's Wilson, Kochendorfer fed Martin under the basket for an easy layup to keep the Bulls' six-point lead intact, 55-49, with 58 seconds on the clock. Wolfe then hit a big three-pointer for the Golden Grizzlies to cut their deficit to three, 55-52, but Martin sealed the game for the Bulls with a short jumper in the paint with 28 seconds left in the game to put the Bulls up by five, 57-52. A free throw by sophomore Allison Bennett (Springfield, OH/Kenton Ridge) with 19 seconds remaining finished off the scoring.

"I told the players that we needed to gut this win out," said head coach Cheryl Dozier. "After the layoff for Christmas, I knew we would come out rusty tonight. I thought we ran our offense a lot better in the second half than we did in the first, and we got another strong performance from Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe. I also thought Rachel Martin played an excellent game for us, going 5-for-5 from the floor and hitting that big jumper late that sealed the win for us."

Martin finished with 10 points and Kochendorfer and Bennett both added nine points for Buffalo. For Oakland, Wolfe finished with a game-high 26 points and Wilson also finished in double figures with 10 points.

The Bulls next host Colorado on Thursday, January 2 at 7 pm in Alumni Arena. The Buffaloes (8-1) are currently ranked 25th in the nation in the most recent Associated Press Top 25 poll, released this afternoon. The Buffaloes play at Syracuse tomorrow afternoon at 3 pm.