Published: January 13, 2007 10:50 pm      

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Bulls win first conference contest

AMHERST — University at Buffalo women’s basketball coach Linda Hill-MacDonald didn’t think her team would have to wait until Saturday to earn a Mid-American Conference victory, but better late than never.

“It feels great,” Hill-MacDonald said after the Bulls defeated Akron 64-58 Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena. “We truly anticipated having it (a conference win) before now, but we’ll take it.”

During the first few minutes of Saturday’s contest, it looked like the Bulls (6-10 overall, 1-3 MAC) would have to wait another day for their first win. UB opened the game just 1-of-7 from the field as Akron built a 14-6 lead with 12:13 to go in the first half.

The Bulls responded, though, running off 10 straight points to take a 16-14 lead.

“I don’t think I had any tremendous words of wisdom to calm them down,” Hill-MacDonald said. “It was just a matter of them getting warmed up and getting into the flow of the game.”

The Bulls took a 28-27 lead into halftime. Freshman Kourtney Brown came off the bench to lead the Bulls with 10 points in the first half. She finished the game with 17, a career high.

“Kourtney Brown was outstanding not only offensively, but her defense on Jessie Crooks (in the second half) was also an incredible performance,” Hill-MacDonald said.

Crooks, a senior, finished with a career-high 26 points, but just 10 of those came after the half. The Bulls also kept Akron’s Niki McCoy, a member of the All-MAC freshman team last season, in check.

UB sophomore Jamie Schiebner drew McCoy as a defensive assignment throughout the afternoon. Hill-MacDonald said it was a job well done.

“Defensively, she had Niki McCoy very, very frustrated, and that was the intention. Jamie’s athleticism, speed and quickness I think really bothered Niki. ... I think Jamie set a new standard for our defensive unit today.”

“It was tiring,” Schiebner said with a smile after the game. “But I had a lot of help from Heather Turner and everyone else down low. It was a team effort keeping her off the glass.”

Schiebner recorded her second straight double-double, recording 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Zips (7-9, 0-4) shot 66 percent (6-of-9) from 3-point range in the first half, but that fell to just 30 percent (3-of-10) after the break.

Hill-MacDonald credited her team’s defensive effort for the change.

“When you have players who are willing to work on the defensive end of the court and take pride in that, that’s when you begin to turn the corner,” she said.

Stephanie Bennett finished with 12 points and seven assists in the win, while Belinda Gibb had 11 points and seven assists for UB. Also for the Bulls, Turner added 11 points and six rebounds.

The Bulls return to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday when they host Kent State at Alumni Arena.