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It's been referenced in plenty of places the increasing comfort that the Womens Hoops team has with their second-year coach Felisha Legette-Jack. After a dismal out of conference slate last year, the Bulls surprised everyone by putting together an 8-8 record in MAC play. While the book it out on much of the coaching turnover under Danny White's oversight, the Syracuse alum and former Indiana coach certainly seems to be an upgrade over her predecessor Linda Hill-MacDonald.
Through four games this season, UB has come out to a 2-2 mark. Unfortunately, without knowing the quality of their opponents so far, the team has been trending in the wrong direction. After a double-digit road win against Binghamton, and a seven point victory at Youngstown State, the women have dropped a seven point home loss to Cornell and today lost by double digits in Pittsburgh to Duquesne.
The standout performers so far are pretty much who you'd expect:
Mackenzie Loesing 16 points; Margeaux Gupilan 15 points
Buffalo 72, Youngstown State 75
Mackenzie Loesing 22 points; Margeaux Gupilan 6 assists
Kristen Sharkey 25 points, 14 rebounds; Mackenzie Loesing 20 points, 10 rebounds
Kristen Sharkey 16 points, Christa Baccas 9 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks
As a team through four games, the Bulls are only shooting 36% from the field, 58% from the line, and averaging more turnovers than assists. With Ashley Zuber in the coaching fold, fans should hope that the turnover numbers start to decrease before conference play. On the plus side, the women have outrebounded their opponents by a margin of nearly 5/game, and are forcing just as many turnovers as they give up.
One Bull in particular is finding success off the court, as well:
Mackenzie Loesing Named MAC Scholar Athlete Of The Week - Buffalo Athletics
BUFFALO, NY - University at Buffalo women's basketball sophomore guard Mackenzie Loesing was named Mid-American Conference Female Scholar Athlete of the Week, as announced on Wednesday. Loesing had a strong week, with back-to-back 20 point games for Buffalo. In Wednesday's comeback win at Youngstown State, Loesing scored 22 points in just 27 minutes, also adding five rebounds, five steals and three assists. In the team's home opener against Cornell, Loesing played through an injury to post a double-double with 20 points and ten rebounds (five offensive). She would make three more steals and add in a trio of assists. Through the team's first three games of the regular season, Mackenzie is leading the team with 19.3 points per game. In the classroom, Loesing has a cumulative grade-point average of 3.92 as a bio medical studies student at UB. Loesing is the first UB student athlete to receive the MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week accolades this season.
Buffalo next travels to crosstown rival Canisius on Wednesday, and then has three games the first week of December at Pittsburgh and at Siena, with a home match against St. Francis (PA) in between.