KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Western Michigan women's basketball team took down MAC East foe Buffalo on Wednesday, Feb. 12 with a 74-62 victory inside University Arena.
The Broncos welcomed Buffalo to their home court to pick up their fifth conference win of the season. WMU treated them to a complete 40-minute effort, leading throughout the game en route to their largest margin of victory since January against Toledo. WMU tallied 19 points off turnovers and out-rebounded the Bulls 38-37.
Western Michigan led in all three shooting categories, converting 26 of 63 field goals (41.3 percent) with 32.1 percent shooting from long range and an impressive 86.7 percent at the line, going 13-for-15. The Broncos tallied 26 points in the paint and limited the Bulls to just 5-for-21 shooting from three-point range.
"I thought we had a lot more grit this game, especially on the defensive end," head coach
Shane Clipfell said. "We made some huge defensive plays, our bench put up a lot of points, and that's very important for our team moving forward- that we continue to have productive players coming off the bench."
All eight Broncos that saw action in tonight's games scored at least four points for the Brown & Gold. Six of those players at least one made basket from long range, while four scored in the double-digits.
Jordan Walker led the charge with 18 points, converting a season high four three-pointers. She added six rebounds and four steals.
Breanna Mobley tallied her second straight double-double with 13 points and ten rebounds.
Leighah-Amori Wool led the assist game with a team-high seven helps, adding five points and a pair of rebounds. The Bronco bench saw 44 minutes of action and poured in 24 points, junior
Reilly Jacobson leading with 15.
"I was very happy with our ability to score points against their defense tonight," Clipfell commented. "I thought we did a good job in both zone and man-to-man defense and stayed deep in the corners to make some of those three-point shots."
Despite a slow start that saw Buffalo taking an early four-point lead, the Broncos came to life after Walker scored five straight points and
Kamrin Reed earned three points after getting fouled on a layup. The Brown & Gold didn't look back, tallying another five straight points to open up the second quarter, thanks to a layup by Mobley and a three-point shot off the bench from
Maddie Watters. The second quarter saw WMU pour in five shots from beyond the arc, a tie for their season-highest in a single quarter. A three-pointer from five feet back from Shafer ended the half and capped off a 9-0 scoring run for the Broncos.
Taking a 14-point lead into the third quarter, the Broncos continued to dominate, outscoring the Bulls 24 to 15. Jacobson came alive off the bench to score 12 of WMU's 24 points in the third quarter. A jumper from Mobley halfway through the frame gave her a double-digit mark in scoring and rebounding. The quarter closed out with Western Michigan holding a 21-point advantage.
As the Bulls opened the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run to trim the Bronco lead, WMU stayed collected, earning points off a jumper from Bailey and Wool's first three of the night. Buffalo outscored the home team 20-11 in the final frame, their highest-scoring quarter of the game. Despite the late surge, Western Michigan held on to the lead with last-minute free throw shots from Walker to seal the win.
The Broncos, now 12-10 overall and 5-6 in conference play, are back on the road this Saturday (Feb. 15), taking on the Northern Illinois Huskies in Dekalb, Illinois.
