Women's basketball drops home opener

The opening eight minutes were as clean as Buffalo could have played. The final 32 minutes were not.

The Bulls (2-1) dropped their home opener to Cornell (2-0), 79-72 on Saturday afternoon, despite junior forward Kristen Sharkey's 25-point and 14-rebound burst.

"I thought we didn't really embrace the opportunity to come home and play in front of our fans," said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "I thought Sharkey did a tremendous job and Alexus [Malone] really worked hard to seize the moment. But not enough of us came to play."

Buffalo jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, and the Big Red missed their first nine shots while turning the ball over six times before their first score.

Cornell then went on a 13-0 run to bring itself back into the contest. Buffalo took back the lead and kept it for the majority of the half, but its opportunity to pull away was gone. The Bulls took a 34-31 lead into halftime.

"Our bench was disappointing," Legette-Jack said. "They came out very flat, no enthusiasm, no purpose and I was really disappointed in that. Talent-wise, we should have gotten better, and taking that lead to about a 16- or 18-point lead and hope to sneak out of there with a two-point win."

The Bulls' bench - which was averaging 27.5 points over the first two games - scored just 10 points and none in the first half.

Sharkey controlled the paint from the opening tip. She scored 11 points and had five rebounds in the first 20 minutes. The Bulls outscored the Big Red 22-0 in the paint in the first half and finished with a 44-14 differential.

Twelve of 13 players saw the court for Buffalo in the first half, but Sharkey was the only Bull in double figures. Sophomore guard Mackenzie Loesing finished the game with a double-double - 20 points and 10 rebounds - including seven points, six rebounds, two steals and two assists in the first half.

The second half was when things began to unravel for UB.

Cornell took a 45-43 lead with 15:30 remaining in the game and never gave it back. The Big Red stretched their lead to as big as 13 with 3:57 left before Buffalo rallied to make it interesting again.

"We definitely fell apart and were undisciplined at times," Sharkey said. "Coach Jack always emphasizes the team, the team, the team, and today we just weren't a team in crucial points of the game."

Allyson DiMango proved to be too much for Buffalo as she responded from a zero field goal first half with five baskets in the final 20 minutes. She finished the game with 16 points and six rebounds. Allison Bockrath and Kerri Moran finished with 13 and 11 points, respectively. All of Bockrath's points came in the second half.

The foul line is what really haunted the Bulls. Cornell shot 21 more free throws (43 to 22) and made the most of its opportunities. The Big Red shot 69.8 percent from the foul line, compared to Buffalo's 63.6 percent.

Cornell also dominated behind the arc, hitting 9 of 18 (50 percent) from deep compared to Buffalo's 4 of 26 (15.4 percent).

The Bulls pulled the game to five points with 56 seconds remaining and four points with 24 seconds as Loesing and Sharkey combined for 17 points in a 3:30 span. Cornell's clutch free-throw shooting along with a Buffalo turnover iced the Bulls' loss.

The Bulls finished with 17 more field goal attempts than Cornell, but it wasn't enough to make up for the points at the foul line and from three-point range.

Buffalo returns to the road when it faces Duquesne (2-1) on Wednesday. The Bulls dropped their contest 78-52 with the Dukes last season. Tip is set for 11 a.m.

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