Rally Falls Short as Buffalo Gets Past Women's Hoops 61-47

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Massachusetts	8	8	14	17	47
Buffalo	20	6	13	22	61

Massachusetts

Buffalo

AMHERST, N.Y. - A fast start by Buffalo proved too much for the UMass women's basketball team to overcome as the Bulls held off a late Minutewomen rally for a 61-47 win on Friday night. UMass trailed by as many as 15 points in the first quarter, but battled back to cut the Bulls deficit to four in the fourth quarter.

Freshman Hailey Leidel led UMass (0-1) with 16 points, while fellow freshman Ryan Holder scored 13 points in her debut.

The Bulls (1-0) were led by Katherin Ups who scored 16 points and Cassie Oursler who had 13 points.

The Minutewomen will return to action on Monday, Nov. 14 at the Mullins Center when they host North Dakota State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be the first of the Kids East Free promotion this season.

Buffalo jumped out to a hot start in the game hitting four consecutive three-pointers and going 5-of-7 from the field in the first four minutes of play to take a 14-0 lead.

UMass buckled down defensively from there holding Buffalo to just 5-of-20 from the field for the balance of the first half. The Minutewomen also forced 10 of the Bulls 11 turnovers in that stretch to end the half on a 14-to-7 run.

The Minutewomen had a chance to cut the lead down more with an inbounds play with 2.2 second but could not get off a shot before the buzzer and trailed 26-16 at the break.

Coming out of the break, the Minutewomen were able to cut the Buffalo lead to seven twice in the quarter. The first came on a three-pointer from the corner by Jessica George with 7:27 left in the quarter. Leidel pulled the Minutewomen back within seven, 34-27, five minutes later with a three of her own.

The momentum continued to build for UMass in the fourth as a seven-point run for the Minutewomen cut the lead to four, 41-37, at the 7:31 mark. Leidel hit a three-pointer and Leah McDerment and Taylor Tucker followed that with jumpers in that swing.

The Bulls were able to retake a double-figure lead with a pair of free throws and a lay-up from Oursler to go up 47-37 with 4:24 to go.

After both Maggie Mulligan and Taylor Tucker fouled out in the final five minutes of the game, Buffalo was able to extend its lead down the stretch. The Bulls scored 10 of the next 14 points to go up 56-43 capped by a Gabi Bade three at the 53 second mark.

For complete coverage of UMass women's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @UMassWBB and online at www.UMassAthletics.com.

Scoreboard

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Team Stats

Leidel Hailey

Holder Ryan

Tucker Taylor

George Jessica

Players Mentioned

Jessica George

Ryan Holder

Hailey Leidel

Leah McDerment

Maggie Mulligan

Taylor Tucker