The UB woman's basketball team (11-7, 3-4 MAC) took the lead and never looked back to triumph over the Ohio Bobcats (5-14, 1-7 MAC) on Saturday night at Alumni Arena, 72-59, before 890 fans.
UB was led by freshman guard Hollie Cook who had 11 assists, nine in the first half alone. She also led on the defensive end, pressuring defenders in the half court press.
Other key contributors for the Bulls were Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe, who had 17 points on 7-10 from the field, and Brooke Meunier, who stepped up off the bench to drop in 13, shooting 6-8.
"I had a talk with coach (Cheryl Dozier)," said Meunier. "She told me to focus on my defense and just let my offense come. Tonight, I just took shots I knew I could make and that I have been making in practice."
UB's offense was as smooth as silk in the first half as they tore apart the opposition time after time with high screens leading to backdoor passes.
"We really didn't have an offensive philosophy," said McMeekan-Ruscoe. "Today, we just knew they were an aggressive team on defense. Our big thing was being careful and strong with the ball."
The only luck Ohio had was with their full court presses in the second half, which pressured the Bulls to commit a number of turnovers. These turnovers came too late though, due to the commanding 43-20 lead the Bulls had at the half, helped out by a 9-0 run in the middle of the first half and a buzzer beater by Meunier.
"We have to be able to put two halves together," said UB Head Coach Cheryl Dozier. "We felt good about the first half but we have to realize, even with a 23-point lead, the game is never over."
UB was deadly from the field, shooting 60.4 percent (29-48) on the night. The Bulls also shot 66.7 percent from the three-point line, but struggled a bit at the free throw line, hitting just over half of their attempts (55.6 percent). Mostly responsible for the high shooting percentage was the effectiveness of the UB offense, which generated 42 points in the paint for the Bulls.
"Our posts did a phenomenal job setting the back screen. That is why all our guards had wide open looks at the basket," Cook said.
Ohio shot poorly, hitting only 36.7 percent of their field goal attempts (22-60). The Bobcats were even worse from beyond the thee-point line, going 4-24 on the night.
Leading Ohio was Latreece Bagley, who was a perfect 8-8 from the field to get 18 points. Junior Andrea Gay chipped in with 11 points and sophomore Erin Isbell led all players with 12 rebounds, five on the offensive glass, and added six points.
The win was not without its problems though. The Bulls were out-rebounded badly on the offensive boards, only grabbing seven to the Bobcats' 18. Buffalo also turned the ball over seven times in the first half, finishing the game with 22.
"Our 2-3 zone did a good job on defense," said Dozier. "But we didn't rebound well out of it. It's hard to block out in a zone. Our players need to turn around and find a body to box out."
Coach Dozier knew it would be a challenge without her zone breaker Erin Lawrenson, who is out with a stress fracture. She seemed to be pleased with the team's performance though.
"It was a great team win tonight," said Dozier. "We have been on the road for five out of our first seven MAC games and this home win was needed. We focused on taking care of the basketball which will make us feel better about us as a unit."
UB's next game comes against an aggressive Kent State team on Wednesday, Feb. 5 on the road.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
