Women's Hoops Drops Contest to Buffalo, 75-53

Highlights.

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University women's basketball team fell in a 75-53 decision to the Bulls of the University at Buffalo Saturday, Jan. 31, at the Convocation Center in a Mid-American Conference game.

The Eagles (10-9, 3-5 MAC) shot 30.4 percent from the floor, going 21-for-69, while making three three-pointers, and eight free throws. Eastern was led by freshman Sasha Dailey (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) and Cha Sweeney (Toledo, Ohio-Rogers) who each notched 12 points for the Green and White, while Janay Morton (Brooklyn Park, Minn.-Osseo) recorded 11 points for EMU. Sweeney also led Eastern on the boards with six rebounds, while Morton and Brianna Puni (St. Charles, Mo.-Incarnate Word (Illinois State)) pulled down five apiece. Defensively, the Eagles forced 23 turnovers, swiping 13 balls, five of which came from Morton.

Kristen Sharkey and Alexus Malone powered the Buffalo offense with each notching double-doubles on the afternoon. Sharkey nabbed a team-best 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Malone scored 17 points and pulled down a game-best 11 boards. As a team, UB shot 46.8 percent from the floor, going 29-for-62, while draining six shots from beyond the arc.

Despite the Green and White scoring the first points of the contest on a jumper from Dailey, Buffalo came out of the gate with the hot hand, dropping five threes to get out to a 21-14 lead over Eastern Michigan heading into the halfway point of the first half. The Eagles fought their way back, using an 8-4 run to trail by just five points, 25-20, with 7:37 remaining in the first half.

UB went up as many as 10 on the Eagles before EMU used back-to-back layups to cut the lead to six, 33-27. The two teams exchanged baskets on their next few trips down the court, which would allow the Bulls to keep a slight nine-point lead over Eastern Michigan heading into the final media time out of the half. With one second on the clock, freshman Micah Robinson (Ann Arbor, Mich-Huron) laid in a fastbreak bucket to close out the half with EMU trailing Buffalo, 40-31.

The Eagles shot 35.1 percent in the first half, going 13-for-37 from the field. Sweeney led Eastern with nine points and four rebounds, while Morton dropped in seven points for the Green and White. As a team, Eastern forced Buffalo into 10 turnovers in large part due to two steals apiece from Morton and Ozelci.

The Bulls used 45.7 percent shooting from the floor and 6-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc to take the narrow lead into the locker room at halftime. Mackenzie Loesing notched a team-best 14 points, including three triples, while Sharkey added nine points to the Buffalo scoring effort in the first half of action.

Eastern opened up the second half with a 6-0 run before Buffalo scored its first bucket in an and-one play four minutes into the second half to maintain a 43-37 advantage over the Eagles. The Green and White continued to fight its way back from the deficit as a Sweeney three from the left side of the floor brought Eastern within four of the Bulls, 46-42.

After a two-minute scoring drought for both squads, Buffalo went on an 8-2 run to take a 54-46 with 8:57 remaining in the contest. The Bulls continued to string together baskets with a 12-2 run over the Eagles to take a 66-49 lead heading into the final five minutes of action.

The Eagles struggled to finish shots, scoring just seven points in a six-minute span, falling to UB 75-53 at the Convo. Although the Green and White struggled offensively to close out the contest, the EMU defensive was strong and forced Buffalo into two shot clock violation turnovers.

The Eagles will head back on the road Wednesday, Feb. 4, when they travel to Kent, Ohio to take on the Golden Flashes of Kent State University. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.

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Team Stats

Sasha Dailey

Cha Sweeney

Janay Morton

Sera Ozelci

Players Mentioned

Sasha Dailey

Janay Morton

Brianna Puni

Micah Robinson

Cha Sweeney

Players Mentioned

Sasha Dailey

Janay Morton

Brianna Puni

Micah Robinson

Cha Sweeney

Eastern Michigan Athletics