BECKY BURKE HIRED AS ARIZONA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HEAD COACH
After capping her three year stint at the University at Buffalo with a WNIT Championship, Becky Burke has accepted the Head Coaching position at the University of Arizona.
Burke’s time at Buffalo comes to a close as her longest tenured job as a Head Coach, after taking a new gig after just two years at each of her previous three stops. With a 61-37 record with the Bulls, Burke continued the success that UB had seen under Felisha Legette-Jack prior to her departure for Syracuse. With consistent improvement, year over year, Burke’s Bulls went from a 12-16 record her first year with a loss in overtime of the MAC Quarterfinal, to a 19-4 record in year two, falling in the MAC Championship game after knocking off the regular season champs Toledo. Her finale at UB set numerous records: a program-best thirty wins, the first ever WNIT Championship, and setting the record for attendance twice.
With Burke now in Arizona, former Associate Head Coach Jacey Brooks now the Head Coach at NIU, and former Assistant Coach Erin Sinnott stepping away from coaching, James Ewing is the lone remaining coach on staff as Buffalo begins a national search for their next leader. Coming off the success of this past season, the UB Head Coaching position emerges as one of the top mid-major jobs available in this offseason’s coaching cycle.
FNL HEADS TO JAMESTOWN FOR SOUTHERN TIER GIRLS’ FLAG FOOTBALL
Friday Night Lights continues the Spring girls’ flag football season tonight with a battle in the Southern Tier between Fredonia and Jamestown.
Fredonia opened the season with two resounding wins, over Amherst and West Seneca respectively, sandwiched by a close, 18-13 loss at Depew. Leading the way through their three games so far is freshman Sophia Utegg, who has converted on four passing and two rushing touchdowns to open the campaign in orange and black. The Hillbillies remain on the road as they head to Jamestown who has only played one game this year, falling to rival Southwestern 14-7 last Wednesday.
You can listen to the action tonight at 7PM right here, on BTPM NPR (88.7FM), or watch the game on BTPM Create (Spectrum Channel 1275).
SABRES / BLUE JACKETS RECAP + PREPARE FOR SUNSHINE STATE BACK-TO-BACK
While they may not have a shot at the playoffs, the Sabres still have four games remaining after last night’s loss at Columbus, as they fell to the Blue Jackets, 3-2.
Entering the night on a five game winning streak, the Sabres capitalized on two nifty plays in the first period with JJ Peterka and Rasmus Dahlin putting Buffalo up 2-0 with just over five minutes left in the opening period. Unfortunately for the visitors, Dahlin’s 16th goal of the season was the last the Sabres would score all night, as Columbus goalie Jet Greaves stood on his head. Greaves earned first star honors with 39 saves on the night for the Blue Jackets. One goal past James Reimer late in the first and then two more early in the third period gave Columbus just enough to edge out the Sabres in a game that meant a heck of a lot more for the Blue Jackets than it did Buffalo. Columbus now sits just six points back of Montreal for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, the closest team to the Habs in the standings.
The Sabres head to the sunshine state for a weekend back-to-back against Florida on Saturday and Tampa Bay on Sunday. It’s the last road trip of the season for Buffalo, who were eliminated from the playoff race earlier this week.
BANDITS HOST HALIFAX FOR LAST HOME GAME OF REGULAR SEASON SATURDAY
The Bandits return to KeyBank Center tomorrow night for their final home game of the regular season, when they host the Halifax Thunderbirds at 7:30.
While they’ve already clinched a home playoff game for the opening round, the Bandits are still seeking to lock up home turf advantage throughout the entirety of the NLL Playoffs. A win tomorrow night would clinch Buffalo the top seed in the league with their thirteenth win of the season. Halifax is hot on the Bandits’ tail, though, entering the match third in the standings with a 10-6 record. In their lone meeting last season, the Thunderbird were victorious, defeating Buffalo 14-12 in Halifax.
Faceoff tomorrow night is at 7:30 from KeyBank Center, when the Bandits look to break an NLL record for average home attendance. An expected sellout would set a new mark, breaking the current record set by Banditland in 2011 with just over 17,000 fans per home game.
BISONS WRAP UP HOMESTAND AGAINST DURHAM OVER THE WEEKEND
The nasty, rainy weather Downtown yesterday cancelled the Bisons’ game three of their series against Durham. The double-header on Wednesday was split, with the Bulls taking the first game 7-1, before Buffalo ended the night with a 2-1 win. The delay to game three adds some baseball for fans this weekend, with a game tonight at 6:00 at Sahlen Field, then a twin bill on Saturday starting at 12:30, and the series bookend game coming on Sunday afternoon at 1PM.
The Scoreboard is presented by Zenner and Ritter Heating and Cooling.
