It has been a rough season for the women's basketball team, and Saturday's seesaw battle in Alumni Arena, was a microcosm for the plight of the Bulls this year.
Buffalo (7-18, 2-9 Mid-American Conference) looked to get its first back-to-back win since late December as it played host to Central Michigan (13-12, 5-6 MAC). Despite a late rally to tie the game at 60, the Chippewas would score the final six points as they snatched a 66-60 victory.
Central Michigan jumped out of the gates early as it scored 12 of its first 14 points on 3-point shots, with three of them coming from guard Niki DiGuilio. The Chippewas' hot start continued as they mounted a 21-8 lead with 9:08 left in the first half.
The Chippewas' suffocating 2-3 zone defense smothered senior guard Brittany Hedderson and held her to a season-low four first half points on 1-of-7 shooting.
"The defense they played on Brittany in the first half was like wallpaper," said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "They absolutely covered her."
Double and triple teams on Hedderson allowed for a balanced first half in scoring with solid contributions from multiple players. Sophomore forward Nytor Longar had five points, two rebounds, and two blocks going into the locker room, while senior forward Beth Christensen doubled her season scoring average in the first half with six points to go along with five boards, and two blocks.
Despite the strong efforts from some of the Buffalo role players, the Bulls still faced an eight-point deficit going into the break.
The sub-par first half play by Hedderson was quickly erased as she connected on her first shot in the second half. She went on a tear, scoring 16 points in the second half, keeping the Bulls afloat and giving her a team-best 20 points for the contest.
"I think that they started forgetting about me in the second half after I scored only four points in the first half," Hedderson said. "We pounded the ball inside to Nytor and Beth in the first half so they couldn't just play on me, they had to defend the team, and once that happens, it makes it a lot easier to score."
A rejuvenated Hedderson combined with some lackadaisical Central Michigan defense sparked the Bulls, as they went on a 13-2 run to even the score at 36 apiece with 13:05 remaining, and Hedderson gave the Bulls their first lead of the night on a nifty layup coming mid way through the second half. The fast-paced effort by both squads was clear as every Buffalo basket was matched by a Central Michigan basket.
Tied going into the closing stages of the game, a layup by Chippewa guard Jessica Green put Central Michigan up by two with 21.9 seconds left. Buffalo then missed a shot and fouled Central Michigan's guard Kylie Welch, who sank two free throws to put the game away.
"I thought we came back well in the second half," Hill-MacDonald said. "In those last two minutes, we executed the offense the way we wanted to and got the looks we wanted but we didn't knock down the shot. It was unfortunate because we worked on these late game situations, and I felt we executed them very very well."
Hedderson blamed youth for the team's recent losing ways and failure down the stretch.
"We don't have a lot of players that have had that late game experience and I think that kind of shows," said Hedderson.
Despite the hard fought loss, the Bulls had strong individual efforts all around. Longar finished the game with 15 points and eight rebounds. Senior guard Teresa Semalulu filled the stat sheet with a career-high 16 points, nine boards, five assists, two steals, and two blocks in one of her strongest efforts of the season.
"It's really nice to see Teresa in her senior year blossoming," Hill-MacDonald said. "She's really hard to defend because she is so quick even when she's matched up with the quickest defender on the other team."
The Bulls have now lost nine of their last 11, and will hit the road to face Bowling Green (20-4, 11-1 MAC), a team with the best record in the MAC, Wednesday at 7 p.m.
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