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Sports Recap
Basketball
Women's
UB 63, Cleveland State, 60
Jacksonville, 71, UB 67
UB gave head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald her 300th career victory with a 63-60 win over Cleveland State Saturday in Alumni Arena. The win was the third in a row for UB, which improved to 6-3 on the year.
The Vikings led for most of the first half, taking their largest lead of the game at six with 14:57 remaining in the half. UB took one-point leads at three different occasions, including two on layups by Jessica Fortman. Cleveland State then went on a 9-2 run to take a six-point lead with 1:57 remaining in the first half. From there, UB began to chip away as senior Flynn Pyykkonen hit a three to cut the Vikings lead to three. After two, CSU free throws, Pyykkonen again got UB within three on a layup with 19 second remaining. Cleveland State tried to use up the rest of the clock, but a turnover gave the Bulls the ball back with nine second to go in the half. That was just enough time for senior Stephanie Bennett to drill a three-pointer at the buzzer and send UB into the half tied at 33.
The Bulls scored the first four points of the second half, but the Vikings responded, tying the game at the 16:25 mark. It was one of two times that the game was tied in the second half. UB reached its largest lead of the game at five on a putback by Fortman with 9:22 remaining. A tie at 54 with 5:28 remaining was broken by a layup by senior Heather Turner. The Viking cut into the UB lead and were down by just one with one minute left. Sophomore Ashley Zuber nailed a three-pointer with 27 second remaining to give the Bulls a 62-58 lead. After Cleveland State's Dominique Butler hit a jumper, UB hit a free throw and a missed three attempt by CSU's Kailey Klein sealed the win for the Bulls.
"I thought our bench did a really nice job for us tonight," said Hill-MacDonald. "As a team I think our players are starting to get that confidence that if they hang in there good things will happen. Confidence can go a long way and fortunately for our team it has helped us win a few games this year."
Zuber led the way for the Bulls with 12 points. She also added four assists and did not turn the ball over. Fortman had 10 points and just missed a double-double with a career-high nine rebounds. Fortman also added two blocks, an assist and a steal. Turner, who played just 19 minutes in the game, had eight points on a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and added a game-high 11 rebounds. The UB bench contributed for 21 points, including six from sophomore Dayna Smith and freshman Bridgette Kendricks. Kendricks also added six rebounds in the game and three steals. Pyykkonen finished with five points, while junior Dortae Freeman added four points, three rebounds and two assists.
A career-high 24 points from senior Stephanie Bennett was not enough as the Bulls snapped a three-game winning streak with a 71-67 loss to Jacksonville Tuesday night in Alumni Arena. Early turnovers proved costly for UB—the Bulls had 19 at halftime. With the loss, UB's record drops to 6-4.
The Bulls came out firing in the first half, hitting the first 10 points of the game and recording their biggest lead of the contest at 13-2 on a layup from Bennett at the 13:41 mark. Jacksonville then went on a 12-2 run to pull within one before the Bulls stretched their lead to seven with 4:12 remaining in the half. In that final 4:12, the Dolphins went on a 16-2 run and take a seven-point lead, 30-23, into the half.
"We won seven of the 10 four-minute segments tonight and the one segment that did us in was the last four minutes of the first half," said head coach Linda Hill-MacDonald. "That is disappointing because we allowed Jacksonville to force us out of our game and into theirs and hopefully we can learn a big lesson from that."
The Bulls began the second half on a 16-9 run and a layup by Barbora Homolová at the 12:40 mark tied the game at 39. The two teams tied it up again at 51 with 5:27 remaining, and Jacksonville hit the next eight points to take an advantage. The lead grew to as much as 10 with 1:14 left, but the Bulls staged one last shot at a comeback. Bennett hit three treys in the final minute of play and converted on two free throws, with the only miss coming intentionally so UB could try and get an offensive rebound. That left UB down just two with three seconds remaining, but Jacksonville's Ashley Williams hit two free throws with just over a second left to ice the game.
Bennett's 24 points were a career best and they were the most points scored by a UB player since Heather Turner had 24 against Miami (OH) last Jan. 2. Bennett's six three-pointers tie her career-high. Junior Jamie Schiebner notched a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Turner had eight points and recorded 11 rebounds for the second straight game. Freshman Jessica Fortman added nine points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. It was the third straight game in which she had a pair of blocks. Homolová and freshman Bridgette Kendricks each had four points off the bench. Kendricks added five rebounds.
The Bulls will take to the road for the next two games, beginning Saturday at UMass.
Wrestling
Bulls undefeated in first two dual meets
UB started off the dual-meet season on a positive note Saturday afternoon, defeating Appalachian State, 19-16, and tying Bloomsburg, 17-17. Andrew Stella, Scott Rendos, Mike Ragusa and Jimmy Hamel all won their bouts in both dual matches.
In their opening bout of the day against Appalachian State, UB came from behind to earn the 19-16 victory. UB fell behind early when the Mountaineers picked up victories at 125 and 133 pounds. UB got on the board at 141 pounds when Stella registered a 6-0 shutout decision over Marcus Cox. Appalachian State took a decision at 149 pounds to take a 13-3 overall lead.
From there, the Bulls began their comeback taking the next three matches. John Cummings earned a 4-1 decision at 157 pounds, Rendos scored a 2-0 shutout win at 165 and Ragusa earned a 5-4 overtime victory to bring the Bulls to within a point at 13-12. Another Mountaineer decision gave ASU a four-point lead with two matches remaining. At 197 pounds, Hamel earned a 9-3 victory to bring the Bulls back within a single point at 16-15. With the meet hanging in the balance, Jeff Parker earned a 13-2 major decision victory in the heavyweight contest to give UB the 19-16 win.
In the other dual meet of the day, UB and Bloomsburg battled to a stalemate. The Bulls fell behind early again when Mike Sees, the 13th-ranked wrestler in the nation, and Jason Guffey gave the Huskies a quick 7-0 lead. Stella picked up his second victory of the day in the 141-pound match with an 8-3 victory to give the Bulls their first points of the dual. Bloomsburg increased their overall match lead to 14-3 with wins at 149 and 157 pounds.
Rendos began the comeback for UB, winning a tight, 2-1, decision over Rick Schmelyn at 165 pounds. Ragusa earned a 10-7 win over Nat Graham to keep the Bulls' comeback going at 174 pounds. A third-period takedown earned Mickey Moran a 3-2 victory over Jesse Hasseman in the 184-pound weight class to pull UB within two points. Hamel gave UB its first lead of the dual when he scored a technical fall over Nicholas Sacco, 24-8. In the final match, Michael Spaid, ranked 16th in the nation, scored a 1-0 decision over Parker to tie the meet at 17-17.
UB will return to action on Dec. 30 at the Wolverine Quad in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Bulls will wrestle their first Mid-American Conference match of the season against Eastern Michigan and also will square off against Lehigh and Michigan, currently ranked 7th nationally.