Saturday's Women's Basketball Results
Buffalo 72, Kent State 58
Central Michigan 76, Eastern Michigan 69
Ohio 92, Miami 78
Ball State 64, Western Michigan 63 OT
Akron 70, Bowling Green 61
Northern Illinois 86, Toledo 79
Stories Courtesy of MAC Sports Information
Buffalo 72, Kent State 58
Box Score
BUFFALO, NY – Senior Theresa Onwuka scored her 1,000th career point and the University at Buffalo women's basketball team defeated Kent State 72-58 on Senior Day at Alumni Arena on Saturday afternoon. With the win the Bulls clinched the #6 seed in next week's MAC Tournament and will host No. 11 Miami (OH) in the first round at Alumni Arena on Monday at 5pm.
Onwuka became the 26th 1,000 point scorer in program history with a jumper in the paint in the fourth quarter.
The Bulls were led by freshman guard Dyaisha Fair who scored 25 points to go along with nine rebounds and four steals. Onwuka added 16 points and four rebounds while junior Hanna Hall also scored in double-figures, recording 10 points, and junior Marissa Hamilton tied a career-high with 10 rebounds.
Buffalo has now held 11 opponents to 59 points or less this season, going a perfect 11-0 in those games, and are 48-0 over the last three plus seasons when holding opponents under the 59 point mark.
It would be a slow start to the game for both teams as they traded baskets in the early going before Keowa Walters converted a mid-range jumper in the paint to give UB a 6-4 lead at the media timeout. The Bulls would extend the lead to 13-8 on a great drive and finish by Onwuka and UB would extend their lead as Aireal Dickson drained a three in the corner at the buzzer off the assist from Hall to take an 18-12 lead at the end of the first.
Neither team scored for the first three plus minutes of the second quarter before Onwuka knocked down a jumper at the 6:42 mark to put UB up 20-12. Kent State would hit back-to-back threes to cut the lead to two before Onuwka converted on a mid-range jumper through contact to give the Bulls a 22-18 lead at the media timeout. Lindsey Thall continued to heat up for Kent State as she drained a pair of threes to tie the game at 24 at the 2:57 mark. A mini 4-0 UB run put the Bulls up 28-24, and they would maintain a 28-27 lead at the half.
Back-to-back buckets by Hamilton and Adebola Adeyeye would give UB a 32-27 lead early in the third and force a Kent State timeout at the 8:29 mark. The Bulls would then go on a 6-2 run, taking advantage of an extended Golden Flashes scoring drought, to take a 38-30 lead at the media timeout. Hall continued the offensive attack for the Bulls getting a bucket and the foul to put UB up 13 at the 3:47 mark and Buffalo would maintain a 51-37 lead at the end of the third.
Kent State opened the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run before Fair stopped the bleeding with a bucket at the 7:53 mark to put UB back up by 10. Fair would continue to heat up as she got a runner to go plus the foul to give UB a 62-48 lead at the final media timeout. Onwuka's 1,000th career point would come in classic "Tessy" fashion on a pull up mid-range jumper to give UB a 66-50 lead and the Golden Flashes would not get closer from 11 from there as the Bulls were able to make stops and run out the clock.
Buffalo dominated the paint 38-14 and won the battle on the glass 47-34, while turning 18 offensive rebounds in 23 second chance points.
"What a great team win, what a great story that we are telling," said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "This is a team that decided that they are going to be the ones to determine the end of their story and they just weren't ready to have that be today. Our success today came on the back of Theresa Onwuka. She demonstrated that she is the leader of our defense and we made some really great stops and we held another team to under 59 points and that's really cool."
Buffalo will host Miami (OH) in the first round of the MAC Tournament on Monday, March 9, at 5pm. It will be the first game of a doubleheader with the UB men who will also play Miami (OH) at 7:30pm.
Central Michigan 76, Eastern Michigan 69
Box Score
MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich. -- Senior send off.
The Central Michigan women's basketball team used a strong second half to in downing Eastern Michigan, 76-69, on Saturday during CMU's Senior Day before 2,405 at McGuirk Arena.
The Chippewas take a 23-6 record into next week's Mid-American Conference Tournament at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland. CMU finished 16-2 in the MAC, winning its fourth-consecutive overall league title and its fifth-straight MAC West crown.
The Chippewas are seeded No. 1 for the league tournament and will play a quarterfinal game on Wednesday, March 11 (noon). They will take on either Akron or Toledo. Those two teams are scheduled to meet on a first-round game on Monday night in Akron.
Ohio 92, Miami 78
Box Score
ATHENS, Ohio – The Ohio women's basketball (18-11, 11-7 MAC) team earned the No. 4 seed and a bye in the upcoming 2020 Mid-American Conference Tournament after defeating Miami (11-19, 4-14 MAC), 92-78, on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
Ohio will play either No. 5 Western Michigan or No. 12 Bowling Green on Wednesday, March 11 at 2 p.m. at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland.
"It was nice to see the ball moving and the ball going in the basket," head coach Bob Boldon said. "The ball was being shared and we had some joy with how the game is supposed to be played."
The Bobcats honored three seniors – Katie Barker (Cary, Ill.), Amani Burke (Columbus, Ohio) and Maddie Bazelak (Dayton, Ohio) – before the game.
"It's bittersweet," head coach Bob Boldon said. "The reason that it hurts a little bit is how nice it is. When you watch a kid like Maddie (Bazelak) come into our program and make such an impact in a short time and on the other end of the spectrum you have Amani Burke, who has played for us from day one. From the time she's stepped on campus she's been a part of what we do and she has a bunch of scoring records. Katie Barker always comes back and fought through injury after injury. When you think about that, you appreciate those kids so much for what they mean to your program and what they have given to Ohio University. That's when the bitter part comes in, because they are leaving. I am really happy for those three because they are going to leave OU with degrees and make our university very proud."
Burke had 18 points on 5-of-10 shooting and 4-of-8 from the three-point line. Burke added four steals, two assists and a rebound and was +40 on the floor in 29 minutes. Bazelak had five points and a career-high five rebounds, while Barker hit one three.
"It was special because not only did we win, but we were getting excited for each other," Burke said. "Gabby (Burris) hit 1,000 points, Erica (Johnson) hit a half-court shot and more. That gets us excited for each other's accomplishments."
The Bobcats were led by junior guard Cece Hooks (Dayton, Ohio), who had 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Hooks hit one three and pulled down nine rebounds and dished out seven assists.
Junior forward Gabby Burris (Baltimore, Ohio) had 19 points and hit the 1,000-career point mark in her career. Burris was 6-of-12 from the field and knocked down two threes while pulling down four rebounds.
Junior guard Erica Johnson (Mansfield, Ohio) had her sixth double-double of the season after 16 points and 13 rebounds while going +22 on the floor in 33 minutes.
Twelve Bobcats saw the floor for Ohio in the win. Redshirt sophomore guard Caitlyn Kroll (Bridgeport, Ohio) had three points while freshman guard Peyton Guice (Westerville, Ohio) and junior guard Hunter Rogan (Urbana, Ohio) had two points each.
Overall, Ohio was 30-of-72 (41.7 percent) from the field and 13-of-38 (34.2 percent) from the three-point line. Miami was 28-of-68 (41.2 percent) overall and 7-of-28 (25.0 percent) from deep. The Bobcats were 19-of-28 (67.9 percent) from the free throw line while the Redhawks were 15-of-19 (78.9 percent).
Ohio had assists on 20 buckets. Both Johnson and Hooks had seven each, while Burke and Kroll had two.
The Bobcats forced 19 turnovers and had 13 steals. Johnson and Burke each had four swipes while Hooks had three and Kroll had two. The Bobcats had 25 points off turnovers while Miami was held to eight. Ohio had 21 fast break points.
OU and Miami each had 44 rebounds. Ohio had 16 offensive rebounds and 15 second-chance points. Johnson led Ohio with 13 boards, while Hooks one short of a double-double with nine. All 12 Ohio players pulled down at least one rebound.
Ohio took a 34-23 lead into the half. Ohio went on to put up 34 point quarter in the third frame and jumped out to a 68-44 advantage. Burris had 14 points in the third quarter, going 4-of-5 from the field and 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Ohio was outscored by Miami, 34-24 in the final frame and won, 92-78.
Ball State 64, Western Michigan 63 OT
Box Score
KALAMAZOO, Mich. - With the 2020 Mid-American Conference tournament in their sights, the Broncos were playing for a first-round bye today against the Cardinals. Western Michigan made its move in the second half to send the game into overtime, but the Cardinals held on defensively for a 64-63 OT victory Saturday afternoon in Read FieldHouse/University Arena.
Ball State (21-9, 13-5 MAC) led the majority of the contest, including a nine-point advantage over the Broncos (17-12, 10-8 MAC) at the half. WMU continued to fight, outscoring the Cardinals in the last 20 minutes of action.
The Cardinals defense has been the result of many victories this season and today's OT win proved to be the case again for BSU, holding WMU to without a last second basket to seal the contest. The Cardinals finished the game on a 7-0 run in the final two minuets.
Today's game started as an up and down affair, as both teams traded baskets for over the first five minutes of play. After the media timeout, the Cardinals tried to pull away with a 10-6 lead after back-to-back scores from freshmen Annie Rauch and Sydney Freeman. That run didn't last long, as WMU went back up 13-12 over the Cardinals to end the first quarter.
Ball State began to catch fire in the second quarter. Senior Arbrie Benson got things started with a 3-pointer off of the dish from junior Oshlynn Brown at the 9:40 mark, sparking an 11-2 run for Ball State. Freeman and sophomore Thelma Dis Agustsdottir each drained a 3-pointer, along with a layup from Brown during the run to put BSU up 24-15. The BSU run forced WMU's head coach Shane Clipfell to call a timeout with 5:10 left in the first half. Clipfell tried to take away the Cardinals momentum, and it somewhat worked, as the Broncos brought themselves back to within four (27-23) at the 2:08 mark. With three minutes left in the half, Agustsdottir and Freeman answered quickly for BSU, making back-to-back 3-pointers followed by a layup under the basket from Rauch to give Ball State a nine-point (32-23) advantage over Western Michigan at intermission.
It was a slow moving third quarter offensively, most of the points came from the free throw line from both teams. Ball State had executed offensively on several plays but couldn't get the shots to drop. WMU capitalized on a few of the Cardinals miscues, making it a four-point (40-36) ball game with 1:43 left in the third frame. WMU's Leighah-Amori Wool hit a jumper as time expired to give the Broncos the 41-40 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of action.
Brown collected her 15th double-double of the season with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Freeman also registered a 17-point performance and dished out six assists while Agustsdottir ended the game with 13 points.
The Ball State women's basketball team will compete Wednesday as the No. 2 seed in Cleveland, Ohio at the 2020 Mid-American Conference Tournament. The Cardinals will be game seven playing against the first-round winner of game three at approximately 30 minutes after game six in Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Akron 70, Bowling Green 61
Box Score
AKRON, Ohio – The Akron women's basketball five seniors seized the day in their final regular-season contest and led the Zips team to a 70-61 win over the visiting Bowling Green Falcons on Saturday afternoon at James A. Rhodes Arena.
The five-person senior class of Haliegh Reinoehl (Westfield, Ind.), Alyssa Clay (Indianapolis, Ind.), Shaunay Edmonds (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Shayna Harmon (Ashville, Ohio) and Caitlin Vari (Richfield, Ohio) combined for 46 points and 29 rebounds following pre-game Senior Day ceremonies. Behind their leadership as all five seniors started the game, Akron surged out to a large early led, never trailed and held off the Falcons for their eighth MAC win of the season.
Clay led Akron with 16 points, junior guard Jordyn Dawson (Huntington, W. Va.) contributed 14 and Edmonds also reached double figures with 13 points. Vari snagged a game-high 14 rebounds to pace her team on the glass.
Edmonds was also part of a unique aspect of the game, as Akron went the first 39:16 of the game without attempting a single free throw before Edmonds sank a pair of charity tosses with 44.4 seconds left to boost her team's edge to nine points 68-59.
Defense was another high point in this contest as the Zips (15-14, 8-10 MAC) held the Falcons to nine points in the first quarter and used ball pressure along with solid defensive rebounding to keep control of the game even during stretches when their offense slowed up a bit. For the day, they outrebounded Bowling Green 43-39 and held the Falcons (10-20, 3-15 MAC) to 36.4-percent shooting.
Despite their strong start, the Zips saw their lead dwindle over the course of the third quarter as they shot just 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) for the period and committed four turnovers as the visitors turned what had been a 20-point Akron lead into a one-point game, 46-45 in favor of the Zips, heading to the fourth quarter.
The hosts responded with a strong start to the final period, going on a 7-0 run to build their lead back to eight points. A clutch three-pointer from sophomore guard Gabrielle Brown-Mitchell (Solon, Ohio) keyed the run and even after it ended, the Akron lead never dipped below four points again as the Zips held on to secure a first-round home tournament game.
The final memorable moment of the day came with 4.8 seconds left as Akron head coach Melissa Jackson called timeout to allow the five seniors to check out of the game together to a standing ovation from the home crowd.
No. 8 Akron is now set to host No. 9 Toledo in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at James A. Rhodes Arena. The winners advance to the quarterfinal round of the MAC Tournament on Wednesday, March 11, at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse and are slated to square off against No. 1 Central Michigan.
Tickets for season ticket holders is included in their ticket package while single-game tickets start at $6. Fans can start purchasing tickets at 9 a.m. Monday, March 9, by calling the ticket office at 888-99-Akron.
Northern Illinois 86, Toledo 79
Box Score
TOLEDO, OH – Redshirt-Senior forward Courtney Woods (Brisbane, Australia/St. Margaret's) became NIU's all-time leader in games played Saturday afternoon and had one of her better scoring days in her illustrious career as the Northern Illinois University women's basketball team defeated the Toledo Rockets 86-79 at Savage Arena Saturday afternoon in the final game of the regular season.
Woods passed Angela Lockett (1990-95) as the Huskies' career leader in games played with 129 Saturday. She led all scorers with a season-high 36 points, three shy of tying her career-high of 39. Woods scored 23 points in the second half alone with 16 coming in the final quarter.
"We just had such good ball movement and momentum in transition that I got a lot of good looks today and knocked them down," said Woods. "My teammates did a good job of finding me, because I usually don't get as many open looks as I did today."
Freshman Chelby Koker (Racine, Wis./Shoreland Lutheran) tied a season-high with 17 points, adding a season-high eight rebounds.
NIU (11-18, 7-11 MAC) and Toledo battled to a 38-38 halftime tie. The Rockets took a 45-44 lead on a Quinesha Lockett layup with 5:50 to play in the third quarter. That would be the Toledo's last field goal for the next 11 minutes. Sparked by a Koker three-pointer, the Huskies closed the third quarter on a 16-5 run to take a 60-50 lead going into the fourth quarter. Koker and Woods combined for 10 of the 16 points as NIU held the Rockets to 0-for-9 from the field to build a 10-point advantage.
Woods scored the Huskies' first seven points of the fourth quarter, putting NIU ahead 67-54 with her three-pointer at the 5:35 mark. Nakiah Black snapped Toledo's 0-for-13 field goal drought with a three with 4:47 to play to cut NIU's lead to 10. Toledo closed to within six with 3:22 to play on back-to-back three-pointers from Black and Mariella Santucci, making the score 69-63. NIU made its free throws down the stretch to come away with the win. Woods, Koker, and Riley Blackwell (Plainfield, Ind./Plainfield) were 12-for-12 at the foul line in the final minute to give NIU the 86-79 win.
"Courtney was good tonight, probably better than good, and Chelby really handled the environment well," said head coach Lisa Carlsen. "It's a lot for a freshman to come here and play that many minutes and play well, especially down the stretch. We kept them kind of at arm's length, but they kept shooting so we had to make free throws down the stretch. It was one of those playoff atmosphere-type games, where every possession was critical. Hopefully that is great preparation going forward, especially for Monday."
Toledo (12-17, 7-11 MAC) took a 19-17 lead after the first quarter, shooting 53.3 percent from the field. NIU opened the second quarter on a 9-2 run, as baskets from Woods, Koker, Myia Starks (Plainfield, Ill./Nequa Valley) and a three from Gabby Nikitinaite (Orpington, Kent, UK/Coopers School) put the Huskies ahead 26-21. The Rockets came back to tie the game at 32 with 2:06 left in the half on consecutive triples from Santucci and Mariah Copeland. Two more threes from Tatyana Davis gave Toledo a 38-36 lead but a Koker layup in the final seconds of the second quarter made the score 38-38 at the half.
NIU made a season-high 23 free throws in the game, shooting 88.5 percent from the foul line. The Huskies shot 45.9 percent from the field as Toledo shot an even 45 percent. NIU held a 40-33 edge on the glass, turning 14 offensive rebounds into 17 second chance points. Santucci led Toledo with 20 points and nine assists as Black and Tanaya Beacham each had 16 points.
The Huskies enter the 2020 Mid-American Conference Women's Basketball Tournament as the number 10 seed and will play at Eastern Michigan Monday night at 6 p.m. in the first round.
