The women's basketball team started off on the right foot on Wednesday afternoon against an exciting Wright State squad. The teams repeatedly traded baskets. Then, all of a sudden, it started raining 3-pointers.
The Raiders (4-1) propelled themselves to an 81-54 romping of the Bulls (2-6) behind a school-record 14 3-pointers.
The Bulls have struggled to stop teams from beyond the arc this year, as this game was a spitting image of the team's loss to Dayton. The Flyers (4-3) utilized the three-point shot to perfection, nailing 15 threes en route to a 94-74 victory.
After a disheartening four-game road trip that found the Bulls going winless, Buffalo returned home for a special noon game as the Bulls celebrated Kids' Day.
The Bulls could not match the consistent cheering from a season-high 1,021 fans. Buffalo led by six four minutes into the game, but that would be its biggest lead of the afternoon.
The Raiders then went on an 11-2 run, and followed it with a 17-2 run to close out the half leading 41-28. It was only fitting that a three-point buzzer-beater by guard Abby Jump ended the first half, with Wright State connecting on 8-of-16 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes. Buffalo went only 1-of-5 from behind the arc.
Head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald described her team's perimeter play as "horrible," as the Raiders shot over 36 percent from three-point territory.
"Wright State came into this game only shooting 20-something percent from three-point range," Hill-MacDonald said. "We just never adjusted when they started hitting their threes as the game plan turned around on us very quickly."
The second half was no different.
Wright State's first possession of the second half was capped off by a 3-pointer by forward Kayla Lamotte. She finished the game with an astounding five 3-pointers, and led her team in scoring with 15. Guard KC Elkins dropped four threes while Jump finished with three.
"It was a fast tempo," Hill-MacDonald said. "You've got to try and slow a team down somehow, and one of the ways to slow them down is to really own your offensive boards and play good perimeter defense."
The Bulls didn't score in the first 6:20 of the second half, and Buffalo finished 1-for-10 from three-point range.
Hill-MacDonald was also upset with the play of her forwards.
"We can't be missing as many layups as we have been missing," Hill-MacDonald said. "Our forwards didn't assert themselves offensively or defensively. Wright State took advantage of our being timid down inside. We just don't want to be touched and that's impossible because it's a physical game."
The Bulls were outscored 41-28 in the first half and 40-26 in the second, and the Bulls only shot 31 percent from the floor.
The lights-out shooting by the Raiders came despite a strong performance from senior guard Brittany Hedderson, who finished with a team-high 18 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists.
Wright State got 38 points from its bench, while Buffalo only managed 14. After Hedderson, the Bulls' leading scorer was junior forward Nytor Longar, who finished with seven points.
"I give Wright State a lot of credit," Hill-MacDonald said. "They did what they needed to do to get us off-kilter, and we were off-kilter for 40 minutes."
The Bulls look to put this game behind them as they host Canisius (2-3) on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. at Alumni Arena.
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