The BG women’s basketball team defefated the Buffalo Bulls on Wednesday night with a 56-43 victory, redeeming itself from a poor shooting performance against Miami this past weekend.
While BG and Buffalo came close in many statistical categories such as field goals made, turnovers and steals, it seemed to be the Falcons’ game to lose.
Both teams shot at or above the 30 percent mark for the game, but the Falcons defense was able to hold Buffalo down. The only lead the Bulls had the entire game was a 3-0 margin at the 17:48 mark of the first half. That lead would quickly disappear as BG would go on a 9-0 run over the next four minutes.
The Falcons built their lead to as much as 12 points in the first half. However, BG gave Buffalo a chance for the second half as the halftime margin was just 27-19.
The second half got off to a slow start, especially for the Bulls, who scored just one field goal in the first four minutes of the half.
Each team had a total of 16 turnovers and nine steals.
A big key was the Falcons’ ability to get to the foul line. Buffalo committed 17 fouls to the Falcons’ nine, as BG capitalized by making 17 of their 22 free throw attempts. The Bulls even had one technical foul, which was committed late in the game by guard Mackenzie Loesing.
That foul put the scoring margin at double digits, 54-43, with roughly two minutes to play. After that, guard Jillian Halfhill put the finishing touches on the win as she hit a layup to put the final tally at 56-43.
Halfhill followed up her 23-point performance against Miami with 12 points on 2-of-9 shooting. The majority of Halfhill’s points came from free throws, as she was 7-of-8 at the line.
Senior Chrissy Steffen also scored double figures for the Falcons. Her 10 points also came on just two made field goal attempts, but she was perfect from the free throw line, going four of four on the night. Steffen also had 10 rebounds to give her a double-double.
Buffalo was led on the night by Mackenzie Loesing, who scored 15 points. However, the team’s leading scorer this season, Cherridy Thornton, was just 2-of-7 for a total of five points.
BG will return to action this Sunday against Ohio University. The game will be the final home game for the BG seniors. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. at the Stroh Center.
