Lady Pirates Fall Short at Buffalo, 50-48
January 02, 2005 | Women's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY ? A three-pointer by Buffalo's Brooke Meunier with 1:16 left on the clock broke a 47-47 tie, and the University at Buffalo women's basketball team was able to hang on for a 50-48 win over East Carolina Sunday afternoon in Alumni Arena.
The Pirates (3-9), who trailed by 14 at the half, 30-16, went on runs of 12-0 and 9-0 during a 12:40 stretch and eventually took the lead 47-45 on a three-pointer by Viola Cooper with 2:37 on the clock. During the Pirate run, the Bulls (2-9) were held scoreless from the field going 0-for-15 and 6-od-6 from the free throw line.
Following a Buffalo timeout, Meunier hit a driving lay-up at the 2:09 mark to tie the score at 47-47, and East Carolina then missed two shots before turning the ball over with 1:33 to play. Meunier's three-pointer gave Buffalo a three-point lead, leaving the door open for the Pirates in the closing minute of the game.
Jennifer Jackson missed back-to-back three-pointers before being fouled on her third attempt with four seconds to play. She missed the first shot, made the second and missed the third, setting the Pirates up for a final shot. Senior Shanita Sutton grabbed the offensive rebound, but missed a lay-up under the basket as time expired, giving the Bulls the 50-48 win.
East Carolina took to a 6-0 lead early in the first half before a lay-up by sophomore Belinda Gibb got Buffalo on the board at the 15:40 mark. Trailing 9-4 at the 13:54 mark, the Bulls went on a 10-0 run to take over the lead, and they closed the first half with a 10-3 run to take the 30-16 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
Jackson led East Carolina with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Ebonee Downey finished with eight points and 10 boards and Shanita Sutton had eight points and nine rebounds. The Pirates out rebounded the Bulls by a 50-35 margin in the game and finished the game shooting 31.0 percent from the floor (18-for-58).
The Pirates will be back in action on Tuesday, Jan. 4 when they host N.C. A&T at 7 p.m.
