Buffalo Shoots Past Falcons, 60-44, to Advance to Cleveland

Monday, March 7

Buffalo, N.Y.

5:30 PM

Bowling Green State University

10-18

Buffalo

17-13

Bowling Green

Buffalo

Lauren Tibbs v Evansville - Dec 2 2015 - Amanda Cutcher photo

Photo by: BGSU Strategic Communications

March 07, 2016 | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Tibbs has 12 & 9 in her final collegiate game

By: BUFFALO, N.Y. (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The University at Buffalo hit four consecutive three-point field-goal attempts to begin the game, taking an early lead and maintaining control throughout the evening in a 60-44 win over the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team Monday night (March 7). The game, a first-round contest in the Mid-American Conference Tournament, was held at UB's Alumni Arena.

With the win, the Bulls, seeded eighth for the 12-team tournament, advance to Cleveland to face top-seeded Ohio University in Wednesday's quarterfinal round. The Falcons, the tourney's ninth seed, see the 2015-16 season come to an end.

LINKS
FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Coach Roos
STATS: Final 2015-16 Statistics | Career Stats for the '15-16 Falcons

Monday night's game marked the final collegiate contest for the Falcons' two seniors, Miriam Justinger and Lauren Tibbs. Tibbs, who was named to the All-MAC Third Team earlier on Monday, led the Falcons with 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds vs. the Bulls. Justinger, who surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career last weekend, had nine points and a team-leading four assists against UB.

Joanna Smith led the Bulls with 16 points in the victory, while Cassie Oursler had 10.

Smith keyed the Bulls' quick start, hitting three-point field goals on each of Buffalo's first two possessions of the evening. Justinger knocked down a turnaround shot in the lane, but Smith's second trey gave UB a 6-2 lead with just 75 seconds gone.

The home team took a 9-2 lead at the 5:58 mark when Stephanie Reid drove across the paint and found Katherine Ups for a three-pointer from the right wing. Ups was 14-for-52 (26 percent) from three-point range entering the game, and made just five three-pointers during the Bulls' 18 MAC games, but she would connect on her first two triple tries Monday night.

Moments later, sophomore Rachel Myers drilled a three-pointer from the right wing, but Ups came right back with another trey, and UB's lead was 14-5. After Tibbs took a pass from sophomore Haley Puk and knocked down a shot from the top of the arc, the Bulls went on a 6-0 run.

That run began when Tibbs blocked a Brittany Morrison shot, but the rebound went directly to Oursler under the basket for a layup. A steal and layup by Reid gave the hosts a 10-point lead, and Smith's pull-up jumper made it a 20-8 game.

At that point in the contest, the Bulls were 8-of-11 from the field, including a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range. UB would go just 18-for-57 (31.5%) from the floor and 2-for-17 (11.7%) from beyond the arc over the game's final 32 minutes, but the early lead was too much for the Falcons to overcome.

BG tried to battle back. Junior Abby Siefker stole the ball from Oursler after the UB post had gotten a rebound, and Siefker was fouled and hit a pair of free throws to close the first-quarter scoring. The Falcons got the ball back, as freshman Sydney Lambert ripped it out of Oursler's hands at the other end of the court, but a Falcon three-point try as the horn sounded rimmed out, and the Bulls led, 20-10, after 10 minutes.

The hosts went on another quick 6-0 run to begin the second period, as Mariah Suchan hit back-to-back layups (the first after she rebounded Reid's airball) and Smith knocked down another shot. Siefker's lob found Tibbs inside for a layup, but Reid's jumper gave the Bulls a 28-12 advantage as the Falcons were forced to use a timeout.

The Falcons kept the Bulls off of the scoreboard for three-plus minutes, but BG could only get a pair of free throws in that time, and when Smith scored off of a steal at the 4:30 mark, the home team's lead was 30-14.

Puk split a pair of free throws after the Bulls picked up their fifth foul of the quarter, and Justinger's two tosses with 2:59 lon the block cut the lead to 13. But, Camera Miley -- like Ups an unlikely long-range threat -- connected from long range. Miley was just 1-of-10 from three-point land on the year, but her second successful triple of the season gave the Bulls a 33-17 lead with two minutes left before halftime.

The Falcons scored five of the final seven points of the period, as Tibbs stepped out top and hit her second three-ball of othe game, and Lambert answered Suchan's free throws with a pair of her own. Lambert's second toss, with 1.7 seconds left in the half, cut BG's deficit to 35-22 at the break.

BG forced Smith to miss a shot to begin the third period, and Myers took a Justinger cross-court pass and drained a corner three, cutting the Bulls' lead to 10. But, despite holding UB scoreless for the first four-plus minutes of the quarter, BG could not reduce the deficit any further. After that Myers trey, BG was held off the scoreboard for over eight minutes.

Buffalo finally scored on a Smith jumper with just over four minutes gone, and that shot opened the floodgates. That bucket began a stretch which saw the Bulls score eight points in a span of 1:40. Smith scored on a transition layup after a steal, Oursler scored inside, and an Oursler block led to a quick bucket by Reid. Suddenly, the hosts' lead was 43-25.

The Bulls' run reached 14-0 and the lead grew to 24 points late in the period. Brittany Morrison hit layups on back-to-back possessions, giving UB a 49-25 advantage with 1:50 left in the quarter.

Freshman Carly Santoro snapped that lengthy UB run with a four-point play at the 1:06 mark. She drilled a three-pointer from in front of the BGSU bench, and after Oursler fouled her on the shot, Santoro stepped to the line and hit the ensuing free throw. The Falcons were 14-of-18 from the line on the night, while the Bulls were just 2-for-2.

But, Reid hit a driving layup to end the period, giving the home team a 51-29 lead. UB shot 44% (22-of-50) from the field over the first 30 minutes, holding BG to just seven field goals and an 18.9% success rate in that time.

The Falcons would attempt to mount a comeback in the fourth. An 11-2 run over the first four-plus minutes cut the UB lead to 13 points, but the Falcons could get no closer.

Redshirt sophomore Kennedy Kirkpatrick took Justinger's pass and connected from long distance just 13 seconds into the quarter. Mirte Scheper countered with a bucket for the Bulls, but BG then scored the next eight points. Siefker fed Tibbs for a layup, Kirkpatrick got a driving layup to drop, and Tibbs took an inbounds pass and hit a short jumper.

The Falcons forced Buffalo into a shot-clock violation, and Justinger was knocked to the ground as she drove through the paint, got up and hit the subsequent free throws. UB's lead was 53-40 with 5:22 to go.

But, Oursler hit a turnaround one-hander, and after a BG three-point try rattled around and bounced away, Reid drove and hit Ups for a layup on a 2-on-1 counterattack, giving UB a 17-point advantage with under three minutes to go.

BGSU head coach Jennifer Roos took her two seniors out of the game to well-deserved ovations by the Falcon faithful in attendance. Tibbs came off of the court for the last time with 2:04 remaining, and Justinger was subbed out with 30.9 seconds on the clock. After Buffalo's Courtney Wilkins made a late three-pointer, sophomore Sarah Baer closed the scoring with a pair of free throws.

Reid and Ups each had eight points for the home side, while Reid also had seven assists. UB had advantages of 26-10 in the paint and 19-8 in points off turnovers.

For the Falcons, Myers and Tibbs each hit two three-pointers on the night, with Kirkpatrick and Santoro making one each.

Justinger ends her career with 1,027 points at BGSU, tying her for 25th on the school's career scoring list. She also posted career totals of 460 rebounds, 267 assists, 130 steals and 114 three-point field goals made.

Tibbs had 350 points and 195 rebounds in her lone season in Northwest Ohio. She led the Brown and Orange in scoring (12.5 ppg), rebounding (7.0 rpg), blocked shots (0.9 bpg) and field-goal percentage (55.4%).

For Roos and her staff, 10 of the 12 players on the active roster have one or more years of eligibility remaining.