KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan women's basketball team was defeated 61-59 on a last-second buzzer-beater in a Mid-American Conference tilt versus the University at Buffalo on Saturday, Jan. 19 at University Arena.
With the game knotted at 59-59 with 1.1 seconds remaining, the Bulls, slotted at No. 9 in College Insider's Mid-Major Top 25 rankings, sent the in-bounds pass all the way down the court to lay in the game-winning buzzer-beater.
Western Michigan opened the game on an 8-0 run and didn't let its lead slip away until the last second of the game. WMU led by as many as 14 in the third quarter, but a strong fourth quarter effort by the visitors led to a comeback.
WMU was led by the trio of
Jasmyn Walker,
Deja Wimby, and
Leighah-Amori Wool, who tied for the team-lead with seven rebounds each. Walker scored a team-high 16 points, followed by 14 from Wimby, and eight from Wool.
Maxine Moore also added eight points off the bench. Wimby and Wool shared the team-lead with four assists each.
The Broncos shot 46.2 percent from the field (24-of-52) and 40 percent from long-range (6-of-15), while limiting the MAC's top scorer Cierra Dillard to 6-of-25 shooting from the field. WMU turnovers were costly, mostly in the second half, as Buffalo scored 22 points off WMU giveaways while out-rebounding the home team 48-33 and leading 23-3 in second chance points.
A strong first half in which the Broncos shot 48.3 percent from the field (14-of-29) led to a 33-26 WMU lead at the intermission.
The quick start to the contest was backed by two three-pointers from Wool and Walker. Buffalo tied the game up several times as the score was locked at 17-17 after the first quarter. Wool's second three-pointer of the half sparked the Broncos' second quarter effort as they maintained a lead for the remainder of time. A layup from Max Moore gave WMU its largest lead of the half at 33-24.
WMU also had a nice start after the break, beginning the second half on a 11-6 run. A Kamrin Reed layup extended the Broncos' lead into double digits at 39-28 with 6:53 left in the third quarter. Soon after, a Wool layup put the Brown & Gold up by 14 at 42-28, WMU's largest lead of the day. From then on, the Bulls closed out the quarter on a 13-9 run to cut their deficit to 41-51 heading into the final stanza.
Buffalo strung together a 6-2 run while trimming the WMU lead to six points a few minutes into the fourth quarter. The Bulls outscored the Broncos 20-8 in the final 10 minutes while putting WMU in foul trouble and forcing seven turnovers.
Meredith Miller and Wool both fouled out of the game with four and a half minutes left while Buffalo continued to gain momentum.
UB eventually tied the game at 57-57 with 1:05 left in the game. Wimby and the Broncos answered with a layup to regain a two-point lead, but a pair of free throws knotted the score again at 59-59, which eventually led to the game-winning layup.
Up Next
Western Michigan, now 7-9 overall and 1-4 in the MAC, has a bye next Wednesday and returns to action next Saturday, Jan. 26, traveling to Muncie, Ind., to face Ball State.
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