UB WOMEN’S HOOPS TO HOST WNIT CHAMPIONSHIP SATURDAY EVENING
For the first time in the history of University at Buffalo Women’s Basketball, the Bulls are one win away from claiming the Postseason WNIT Championship. UB hosts Troy Saturday night in the Title Game at 5PM.
In storybook fashion, the season will end as it began, with Buffalo hosting Troy at Alumni Arena. Back in early November, the Bulls defeated the Trojans 80-78 in the first game of the season, as part of the Mid American Conference / Sun Belt Conference Challenge. Credit the schedule makers who matched these two teams up back then, clearly they are quite evenly matched.
Before previewing the Championship game, let’s recap the road to the WNIT title game for both clubs. Each team earned a bye through the first round of the tournament, so we begin with the second round, when the high-powered Troy offense surged past Chattanooga, 85-72. Buffalo overcame a 16-point deficit in the final eight minutes of the fourth quarter to defeat UMass 84-82 in Overtime. In the Super 16, it was Troy’s turn for extra basketball, as they fought through overtime to beat North Texas, 88-86. Meanwhile, the Bulls silenced a packed house at Southern Indiana with a wire-to-wire, 76-64 win. Onto the Great 8: the Trojans took a long trip from Alabama to North Dakota State and left with a 97-88 road victory. At the same time, Buffalo returned home to take down Rutgers, 71-64.
That brings up to Wednesday night and the Fab 4, as Buffalo played host to Cleveland State. In front of over 3,000 fans in Amherst, the Bulls’ high-pressure defense led to 18 points off of 21 forced Viking turnovers. Buffalo outscored Cleveland State 20-13 in the final frame, securing the 74-69 win to defend their home court. On the other side of the WNIT bracket, Troy was in enemy territory once again, in another high scoring duel. Back and forth throughout the night, the Trojans outlasted the Illinois State Redbirds 99-96.
I don’t put too much stock into the first meeting between these two, as both squads were clearly rusty, specifically from the free throw line. In a foul-laden season opener, Buffalo shot 27 for 39 from the stripe, the most free three attempts they had in a single game all season. Troy went 10-21 at the charity line in the same game, so with eleven missed “free” points, that’s a wash.
At the mid major level, it’s typical to have a ton of roster turnover year to year, and that’s what these programs had coming into this year. Sure, each coaching staff watched film on what plays the coaches liked to run, but with a majority of transfers set to make their regular season debuts together in that first game, it was a true “fly by the seat of your pants” game for each bench. Given a full season of film out on both teams now, it is likely to be even more of a chess match in the rematch Saturday.
The Championship game is a battle between the hard-nosed, efficient offense of Troy, who loves to get to the paint and let their post players go to work, against the stout defense of Buffalo, who pride themselves on guarding their yard and turning stops into transition scores. If I had to label the go-to player for both teams, Chellia Watson is the clear stand out guard for Buffalo, averaging 21 points per game, and Troy forward Zay Dyer leads the Trojans with 14 points and 10 rebounds per game.
Tip-off from Alumni Arena in Amherst is set for 5PM tomorrow evening. Tickets for the WNIT Championship on Saturday are available here.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS RETURNS TONIGHT, INTRODUCES FLAG FOOTBALL
Friday Night Lights returns to Buffalo Toronto Public Media for its first Spring season, bringing you coverage of Section VI girls flag football! Week one begins tonight on BTPM NPR and BTPM Create with PJ Cauley and I bringing you the action from Sweet Home High School when the Pioneer Panthers come to town.
This is the third year of flag football being a Section VI sanctioned sport, after the Spring 2022 pilot season was a success with twelve trailblazing teams paving the way. 2024 was the first year with a New York State playoff, leading to the first two flag football state champions, both from downstate. In Section VI, Clarence won the first Sectional Title in 2023, and repeated when the teams were split into two divisions in 2024 as Division One champs. Pioneer took home the Division Two Sectional crown last season.
The battle of the Panthers between Sweet Home and Pioneer is set for a 7PM start tonight. You can follow all of the action live on the air here on BTPM NPR, or watch the game on BTPM Create!
SABRES HOST BACK-TO-BACK OVER THE WEEKEND
The Sabres are back in Buffalo this weekend to host back-to-back games at KeyBank Center, Saturday night vs Tampa Bay and Sunday evening vs Boston.
On opposite ends of the standings, the Tampa Bay Lightning are looking to clinch a postseason berth tomorrow, as they currently sit in second place in the Atlantic Division. The Sabres are second last in the East, eleven points out of the final playoff spot. Puck drop tomorrow is at 7PM.
On Sunday, it’s a battle of the basement-dwellers, with the Sabres welcoming in the only team lower than them in the standings, the Boston Bruins. After selling most of their good players at the trade deadline, the Bruins have gone full tank mode to end the season, having lost ten straight games. They have the chance to equal their franchise’s longest losing skid of eleven games, set literally 100 years ago during the 1924-25 season, when they host Carolina on Saturday. That means if they lose tomorrow night, the Sabres can serve Boston their 12th consecutive loss and send the franchise to a never-before-seen low. That would be some consolation for the underwhelming and extremely frustrating season that has been. Puck drop Sunday is at 6:00.
BANDITS AT COLORADO TOMORROW NIGHT
After dropping back-to-back one goal games in the last two weeks, the Bandits look to get back in the win column tomorrow night in Colorado when they take on the Mammoth in a rematch of the 2023 Championship.
The Bandits can clinch a home game in the first round of the NLL Playoffs with a win tomorrow night, and remain atop the league standings. Colorado, who sit at 8-7, are currently in a four-way tie for fourth place in the NLL.
Face-off from the Rocky Mountain state is set for 7PM Eastern tomorrow night.
BISONS SERIES UPDATE; RAIN IN MEMPHIS LEADS TO TWIN BILL TODAY
Through inclement weather in Memphis, the Buffalo Bisons lost the first two games of their road series against the Redbirds, after dropping game two on Wednesday, 15-3. Yesterday’s game three of the series was postponed to today, so a double-header is in store this evening. First pitch of game one is at 5:30 tonight.
The Scoreboard is presented by Zenner and Ritter Heating and Cooling
