Women’s basketball (1-0, 0-0 MAC) opened their regular season with a nail-biter against the Troy University Trojans (0-1, 0-0 SBC) in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) Sun-Belt Challenge. The game remained close throughout all four quarters, but the Bulls were able to secure the win with a final score of 80-78.
“That was a big win,” assistant coach James Ewing said in a post-game interview, “the team stepped up to the challenge [and] locked into the game plan...our ladies did a great job.”
The Trojans started with a 9-0 run, which was quickly combated by sophomore guard Kirsten Lewis-Williams’ five point run. The Trojans were still up 11-5 at the first media timeout, but the Bulls came back ready. Sophomore guard Paula Lopez passed to senior guard Terah Harness for a fastbreak layup to tie the game.
Towards the end of the quarter, the Bulls struggled with keeping the Trojans from getting offensive rebounds – which Ewing deemed the biggest challenge of the game. But to the Bulls' advantage, the Trojans found themselves in foul trouble, and the Bulls were able to bring the score up to 24-18 after five successful free throws.
Lewis-Williams kicked off the second quarter with two layups, followed by two jumpers from fifth year guards Noelani Cornfield and Chellia Waston. This brought the score to 36-27 at the next media timeout. The Trojans once again found themselves in foul trouble late in the second quarter, allowing the Bulls to expand their lead to 48-46 after 10 successful free throws in the last four minutes.
The Bulls came out offensively strong in the second half, with Waston making a layup within the first ten seconds to start a 12-3 run. Cornfield turned her defense into offense with a steal turned into a layup, something that we would later see again from Harness, who brought the score up to 65–56, the largest lead of the game. The Trojans were able to close that gap but were unable to take the lead, ending the third quarter with a score of 69-63.
The final quarter opened with a quick foul from the Trojans, bringing Watson two more points. Harness then passed to fifth year senior forward Ariana Seawell for a reverse layup to maintain the lead. In the last three minutes, Watson sunk a three to bring the Bulls to 79 points. The Trojans were then able to cut the game down to a two-point difference after two successful free throws, but were unable to take the lead, giving Buffalo the win.
The Bulls will take on the Buffalo State Bengals (0-0, 0-0 SUNYAC) next on Friday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. The game will take place at Alumni Arena.
The sports desk can be reached at sports@ubpspectrum.com
Photo: Ryan Hagen | UB Athletics
