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March 1, 2003

Final Stats

OXFORD, Ohio-A collision between the Mid-American Conference's two hottest programs resulted in two very different halves Saturday afternoon in Millett Hall. Unfortunately for Miami University's women's basketball team, the University at Buffalo finished with the stronger half and kept its MAC East Division title hopes alive with a 69-64 defeat of the division-leading RedHawks.

The loss ended Miami's five-game winning streak while extending a six-game unbeaten streak for Buffalo, which closed to within just one game of Miami in the MAC East Standings. The RedHawks have already clinched at least a share of the MAC East title, but will need to defeat Marshall Tuesday night to win the division outright and clinch the No. 2 seed and first-round bye for the MAC Tournament.

Keyed by nine quick points from Beth Roederer (Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral), Miami roared out of the gates, connecting on its first four shots from the field and grabbing a 12-4 advantage less than three minutes into the game. The pace slowed from there, but Miami continued to attack the Bull defense and built its lead to as high as 20-8 with just over 13 minutes to play. Buffalo's Kate McMeeken-Ruscoe, who entered the game averaging 24.3 points per game over her past four contests, answered with five straight points to close the gap to 22-13 by the second media timeout at 11:54.

With Miami's shooting touch beginning to chill, the Bulls seized the opportunity and used their interior presence to chip away at the RedHawk advantage over the next four minutes, closing to within four points with under seven minutes to play. By the five-minute mark, the Bulls were within just two points, but Kim Smith (Gary, Ind./West Side) snapped Miami out of a nearly seven-minute long field goal drought by scoring seven unanswered points and boosting the RedHawk edge to 33-24 with under four minutes remaining. Melanie Kozlowski's (Parma, Ohio/Holy Name) second trey of the half sent Miami into the half leading 40-30.

Led by Heather Cusick's (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo) 11 first-half points, Miami shot 50 percent from the floor versus the league's top shooting defense, while restricting the Bulls to just 36 percent shooting.

Buffalo set the tone with its defense early in the second half, holding Miami without a field goal for more than three minutes to start the half and closing to within seven. Another Smith field goal ended Miami's shooting drought, starting a brief RedHawk surge, but the momentum was beginning to shift, and the Bulls were back within 47-40 with 11:38 to play. With its lead down to three points and 10 minutes to play, Miami was forced to call a timeout to disrupt the Bulls' rhythm.

Colleen Day (Independence, Ohio) tallied a quick bucket out of the timeout, but Buffalo continued to charge and claimed its first lead of the day, 50-49, with a pair of Allison Bennett free throws at 7:37. The Bulls continued to frustrate the RedHawks at the offensive end, but Kozlowski's third trey of the game came with under five minutes to play and put Miami back in front at 54-52. After exchanging buckets, Hollie Cook put the Bulls in front with a trey, but Kozlowski responded with her fourth trey and Miami led 59-57 with less than three minutes to go.

The teams continued to exchange buckets, but Buffalo went in front again, 64-61, with 1:04 to play when Cook converted a three-point play. After a defensive stop, the Bulls went to the free throw line, burying five-of-six charity tosses over the next 20 seconds to secure the win.

Miami, which shot a dismal 29 percent from the floor in the second half, was led by the trio of Cusick, Smith and Kozlowski, which poured in 16, 13 and 13 points, respectively. Cusick added five assists and four steals, and Smith contributed nine rebounds and four steals.

Miami closes out the regular-season next Tuesday when it hosts the Marshall University Thundering Herd for a 7 p.m. Senior Night contest. Prior to the game, RedHawk seniors Jana Butler (Findlay, Ohio/Liberty-Benton), Cusick and Beth Roederer will be honored for their contributions to the program over the past four seasons.