Preview: Buffalo Bulls Women’s Basketball looks for revenge on a road trip to Toledo

Bringing defense to the forefront of a win over Western Michigan, Buffalo Bulls Women’s Basketball takes a break from the new semester with a road trip to Toledo tonight. Buffalo has a solid shot at getting back to within one game in the MAC East standings of Ohio with a win tonight.

Last time

UB took their third straight loss of MAC play when they last met Toledo this season. Buffalo finished the night with a lackluster 19 turnovers and Toledo sure took advantage while they also matched the Bulls in rebounds. Also, UB’s bench struggled while only three players in the starting lineup made big enough contributions to stay in the game.

JoAnna Smith, Theresa Onwuka, and Stephanie Reid lead the way in the 73-64 loss with 16, 13, and 11 points respectively.

Toledo since their trip to Alumni

The Rockets have had a tough time, going 1-3 in the stretch since they made the trip to Amherst. Toledo lost to both Ohio and Northern Illinois at home and took a ten point loss on a road trip to Kent State. However, they are coming off a big 74-72 win at home over Central Michigan and look to continue the good play tonight.

Toledo is still lead by Jay-Ann Bravo-Harriott at 11.9 points per game and remain a very deep squad.

What to watch for

1. Rebounding

The Bulls didn’t do a good enough job on the glass in their last matchup in Toledo and they’re also coming off of a game where Western Michigan out-rebounded them by 7. As St. Bonaventure’s head coach said, “UB rebounds like a high-major team.” It’d sure be nice if that shows again tonight.

2. Interior defense

Toledo did not have a good time shooting the three ball last game. Taking just nine shots and hitting 33% of them meant that their forwards put in a lot of work. UB needs some big minutes from Oursler and Hemphill tonight on defense.

3. K. Ups, Suchan, and Morrison

Buffalo had a nice trio of bench standouts play big minutes at WMU and we’ll see if they can do the same again. Suchan and Morrison could be a big help especially with their rebounding ability to help UB get an edge in this game.

4. Smith’s continued dominance

It’s obvious that UB’s offense is completely revolving around her again and it’s working. UB needs another big night from the senior. No pressure, JoAnna.