The University of Akron Athletics
Women's Basketball Falls at Buffalo, 68-54
February 28 | Women's Basketball
–The University of Akron women's basketball team was
defeated, 68-54, by Buffalo Wednesday night at Alumni Arena.
Freshman Keyla Snowden (Lexington, Ky./Lexington Catholic)
scored a game-high 16 points in the loss.
"I thought we played great defense in the first half but struggled
with our offense," said UA head coach Jodi
Kest. "But in the second half we allowed Buffalo to shoot
better than 50 percent and gave up easy baskets in transition. You
have to give credit to Buffalo, they did a great job executing
their offense and did what they had to to win."
Sophomore Riana Miller (Sylvania, Ohio/Northview) joined
Snowden in double figures with 13 points and nine rebounds.
Akron (7-21, 2-12 Mid-American Conference) trailed by three, 25-22,
after the first 20 minutes but fell victim to a 13-3 run by the
Bulls (14-13, 7-7) to start the second half. Back-to-back jumpers
by Miller, followed by one of three triples from Snowden pulled UA
to within six, 38-32 with 13:45 left.
But the Bulls scored the next five points to end the threat and
Zips could get no closer.
Akron was out-shot by Buffalo, .288 (17-for-59) to .467 (28-for-60)
for the game and was out-scored 40-to-12 in the paint.
A jump shot by Teresa Scott gave UA an early 11-10 lead at the
12:45 mark of the first half. It was the second straight field goal
for the sophomore guard, who hit a three-pointer on the Zips'
previous possession. Buffalo responded with an 8- run – keyed
by six points from Jessica Fortman – to take an 18-11
advantage with 7:43 left in the half.
The Bulls pushed their lead to eight, 22-14, before Keyla
Snowden and Ashley Veal hit back-to-back threes to cut the
deficit to three, 23-20, with 1:05 remaining. UA and UB traded
baskets to close out the period as Buffalo took a 25-23 lead into
the break.
Scott led the Zips with eight first-half points while Fortman paced
the Bulls with 12.
The Bulls opened up the game with a 13-3 run to start the second
half and owned a 38-25 lead with 15:48 on the clock.
The Zips will open their final homestand of the season when Miami
comes to Rhodes Arena Saturday. Tip time is scheduled for 2 p.m.
EST.
Zips Notebook: With a trio of three-point field
goals, Snowden moved into fourth place on the MAC's list for most
threes in a single season with 80 ... with her 44th block of the
season, Miller moved into fourth place on UA's single-season
rejection's list ... UA won the battled of the boards 39-38.
