Buffalo Bulls Women's Basketball Recap: Smith and Oursler foul out in fourth quarter collapse to Akron. Final Score: 62-49

As of late, the women's basketball team has been riding a hot streak thanks to a vigorous defense and stellar rebounding. With the exception of their game versus Eastern Michigan, the Bulls have looked like the team that started out 8-0. Buffalo traveled to Akron, Ohio in hopes to keep the winning streak and the momentum going tonight. Unfortunately it wasn't in the cards as Buffalo dropped this one 62-49.

Buffalo came out ready to play defense in the first as the score as neither team could get any shots to fall for a lot of the first three minutes. Things would slip though as Akron opened things up with a 10-4 advantage thanks to making their next four attempts. The Bulls fought back and brought it to within two with 4:37 left as a result of a Cassie Oursler layup. Things started to slow down from their as the Zips went into a scoring drought. They would score a mere three points in over four minutes of play.

The second quarter was all Joanna Smith. When I say that, I mean it in a literal sense. The junior guard would score the first nine points for the quarter after making a bunch of three pointers. The bulk of this ten minutes saw everyone else be mostly stagnant but things looked up. There were numerous highlights including a fantastic fast break pass from Karin Moss to Cassie Oursler. Akron kept up as well as they could and the Bulls lead 29-24 at the half. Smith had 15 points and Oursler had a great effort with 8 points and 4 rebounds.

The second half didn't start the way Buffalo wanted it to. Akron went on an early 7-0 one and retook the lead. Luckily, a Mariah Suchan three point jumper would silence the run and tie the game up at 36. Hannah Plybon could not be stopped from three as UB's offense continued to trudge through the quarter. Brittany Morrison and Stephanie Reid each grabbed some crucial points to keep things close as UB went into the final then minutes with a 42-46 deficit.

Akron's Plybon and Brown continued to make shots in the final quarter and UB faced an eight point deficit only two and a half minutes in. Add this on top of Joanna Smith fouling out and things looked even bleaker. After a strong Brittany Morrison layup, Cassie Oursler would foul out as well. The top two scorers in the game were now gone and doomed Buffalo's hopes in winning it.

Joanna Smith and Cassie Oursler lead the team with 15 and 10 a piece. Smith would finish with a double-double effort thanks to her 11 rebounds.

The next time the Bulls are in action will be this Saturday as they finish up MAC play at Alumni Arena. Tip-off vs. Kent State is scheduled for 2:00 PM and the game will air on ESPN3. More on this game will be said later with the usual takeaways piece.