March 7, 2009

Final Stats

PHOTO GALLERY

2009 MAC Women's Tournament Bracket

OXFORD, Ohio -- Miami scored the last five points of the first half, then shot 54.2 percent over the final 20 minutes to pull away from Buffalo, 67-57, Saturday afternoon at Millett Hall.

With the victory, the RedHawks (15-14, 7-9) clinched the No. 4 East seed and will play No. 5 West seed Eastern Michigan in the first round of the MAC Tournament on Wednesday at Noon.

Senior Jenna Schone led Miami with 11 points and four assists. She moved into fifth place on Miami's all-time scoring chart, finishing the game with 1,501 points. Rachael Hencke earned the RedHawks' first double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 boards.

Miami led 24-19 in the final two minutes of the half when Buffalo rallied to even the game at 24 with 48 seconds to play. But Schone hit a pair of free-throws 21 seconds later and Courtney Reed buried a long three-pointer at the buzzer to put the RedHawks back up by five, 29-24 at the break.

Buffalo stayed close, trailing 39-35 and 42-37 when Miami took control. The RedHawks used a 9-2 run to push the lead to 12, 51-39 with 9:03 left, and later led by as many as 16, 64-48 with three minutes to play.

Miami finished the game shooting 42.0 percent, while holding Buffalo to just 35.0 percent. The RedHawks also held a 39-37 rebounding advantage and had two fewer turnovers (24-22).

Buffalo (6-23, 2-14) already knew its fate for the MAC Tournament. As the No. 6 East seed, it will face No. 3 West Northern Illinois on the opening round.

The Bulls were led by Fortman with 17 points and seven boards and Kourtney Brown, who has 12 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots.