Before heading on another road trip, Buffalo Bulls Women’s Basketball had a matchup with Ball State to play in hopes of improving on their winning record in the MAC. Buffalo saw one of their best offensive showings this season but the problem was that Ball State had two scorers that eviscerated UB’s defense. Five Bulls would finish in double figures in the 89-75 loss.
The beginning of the game was not kind to Buffalo as they opened up 1-7 from the field. Like the rest of the night, Ball State capitalized on the slight mishap from UB to gain a lead that they would carry for the rest of the game.
Pressed on the fact that Ball State quickly had UB’s defense figured out, the Bulls brought out pieces of their bench to try and get the offense to a better state. Cassie Oursler soon began to have the best game she’s had a in a long time as she opened up 3-3 from the floor.
Although the box score doesn’t show it, Buffalo saw a strong eight minutes from Katherine Ups on defense. Ups seemed to be the only one that could stop Ball State’s Moriah Monaco from beyond the arc. Ups also had a hand in dishing some good offensive looks with some entry passes from Reid on the side of the arc.
UB was doing better on defense, but their offense quickly took a turn for the worst. Buffalo finished the half without making one of their final eleven shots and Ball State kept trucking.
With a 46-31 deficit looming, Buffalo had to quickly find some offense or lose badly to Ball State. In the third quarter, the Bulls were able to put up an uncharacteristic 27 points in the third quarter thanks to their two biggest stars. JoAnna Smith found her shot and quickly started draining threes and chipped at the lead little by little. Also, Stephanie Reid was having a career game dishing in plenty of assists. By the fourth quarter she already had her career high matched and was about to go toe-to-toe with the history books.
UB’s offense continued to click in the most amazing performance it’s had this year. With six minutes left in the game, a layup from Reid brought Ball State’s lead to just four points. But, just like all night, no one could answer for Moriah Monaco or Renee Bennett. Monaco quickly re-stretched the lead out to double digits as her hot shooting night continued and Bennett capitalized on some sloppy mistakes from the Bulls and forced turnovers.
When it was all said and done, the duo of Monaco and Bennett had 35 and 24 points respectively.
JoAnna Smith is clearly back to the top of her game now. After averaging around 14 points per game for much of this season, she’s averaged 24 in the last five. Tonight, Smith hauled in 26 with ease.
Stephanie Reid continues to make headway towards having the title of greatest point guard to ever play at UB. After a 12 assist game versus Central Michigan, Reid finished the night with a commanding 16 assists. Only one other UB point guard has ever been able to do that and that’s assistant coach Ashley Zuber. Reid also finished the night with 10 points.
Finally, three more Bulls finished the night in double figures. Summer Hemphill recorded her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 13 rebounds. Theresa Onwuka is continuing her conference play success with 10 points and 6 rebounds. Lastly, Cassie Oursler had an incredible night before fouling out with 14 points and 7 rebounds.
Buffalo now sits 4-4 in the MAC as they go on another road trip. The Bulls will face the Broncos of Western Michigan on Saturday at 2:00PM.