Lacrosse

UB will not add women's lacrosse as an intercollegiate sport in the 2000-01 academic year, according to Bob Arkeilpane, director of athletics. Lacrosse will continue to compete as a club sport sponsored by the Student Association.

In the past three years, the intercollegiate program has expanded to add programs in crew (women's) softball and baseball. Earlier plans addressing the university's gender-equity balance included the addition of women's lacrosse as an intercollegiate sport. However, current and projected growth of the women's programs in existing sports now looks as if it will provide gender equity in participation opportunities, Arkeilpane said.

"Through planned growth and aggressive recruiting in our women's programs, as well as reasonable caps on the rosters of our men's programs, it now appears that our goal of equity is achievable with our current offerings," he said. "By maintaining the current number of sports, we also will be in a much better position to achieve fiscal equity between programs."

Basketball

Men

Marshall 88, UB 72

The Bulls fell to a hot-shooting Marshall team Saturday night by a score of 88-72. Marshall shot 54.8 percent from the field and 56 percent from three-point range in shooting down UB's hopes for a win.

The Thundering Herd jumped out to a quick lead, hitting four three-pointers to open the game and led 12-4 in the first two minutes. In the first eight minutes of the game, nine of Marshall's 11 field goals were three-pointers, silencing the crowd and giving the Herd a 31-15 lead at that point. Marshall extended its lead to as many as 21 points, 41-20, with 4:21 to play in the first half before UB charged back. The Bulls closed the last four minutes of the half with a 14-5 run, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Louis Campbell, to make it a 46-34 game at the break.

UB came out and scored the first four points of the second half, cutting the lead to eight before Marshall answered with a three-pointer from Cornelius Jackson. UB came right back with a three-pointer of its own from Alexei Vasiliev, making it an eight-point game, 49-41, with 17:49 to play. But that was as close as UB could get. The Thundering Herd then went on a 5-0 run to take control of the game and increase its lead to as many as 23 points, 86-63, with 2:16 left in the game before closing with an 88-72 win.

The Bulls (5-20, 3-13) lost, despite a season-low six turnovers in the game. Only one UB player had more than one turnover. Damien Foster led all scorers with 22 points and Campbell and Vasiliev each added 10 points.

Women

Marshall 89, UB 78

Junior forward Yashico Stevens scored a career-best 28 points and visiting Marshall shot a blistering 58 percent from the field to defeat UB, 89-78, in a Mid-American Conference game Saturday in Alumni Arena.

Stevens scored 16 of her points in the first half as the Thundering Herd (8-18, 2-13) raced to a 38-35 halftime lead over the Bulls, and scored five more as the Herd stretched the gap to 51-43 with 14:33 remaining.

The Bulls (17-8, 7-7) rallied behind the tremendous inside play of freshman Kim Kilpela and junior Tiffany Bell. Kilpela scored a career-best 33 points-23 in the second half-and sparked the Bulls on a 15-6 run to cut the lead to 59-56 with 10:36 remaining. Kilpela hit 12-of-19 shots from the field and added 11 rebounds, while Bell had the 17th double-double of her career with 23 points and 10 rebounds.

The Bulls tied the game 65-65 on a jumper by Kilpela with 7:17 left. However, Marisa Williams (17 points) scored the next four points as Marshall bounced back to take control down the stretch by hitting eight straight free throws in the final minutes.

Junior Mari McClure connected for a season-high 20 points for Buffalo.

Wrestling

Athletes of the Week

Senior Joe Downey of the wrestling team went 2-0 and improved to 23-12 on the season last week as he won matches over opponents from Cornell and Syracuse. At Cornell, Downey upset Bob Greenleaf, ranked 18th in the nation at 197 pounds, 5-3. Downey also beat Syracuse's John Soden, 19-4. Freshman Kim Kipela scored a career-best 33 points, 23 in the second half, in the women's basketball team's 89-78 loss to Marshall last week. Kilpela hit 12-of-19 shots from the floor to set an all-time freshman record for points. She also added 11 rebounds

UB traveled to take on No. 18 Cornell (11-4) in Newman Arena Feb. 17. Despite losing 23-13, the Bulls upended three of the five nationally ranked wrestlers on the Cornell squad. Josh States downed No. 15 Rost Aizenburg 11-1, at 184 pounds; Joe Downey beat No. 18 Bob Greenleaf, 5-3, at 197 pounds, and at 125 pounds, Charlie Voorhees defeated No. 18 Aaron Taylor, 7-5.

Shawn Kegel also was victorious for the Bulls as he earned a 15-10 decision over Sean Doyle at 133 pounds.

The Bulls hit the road again Sunday to wrestle Syracuse in Manley Fieldhouse. The Bulls easily swept all 10 matches, beating the Orangemen 47-0.

UB now gears up for its second appearance in the MAC Conference Championships, which will be held in Alumni Arena March 4-5. The Bulls placed third in last year's MAC tournament.

Gary Cooper, Jake Partlow and States are making their marks in the UB record books.

Cooper, MAC co-Freshman of the Year last season, is 34-10 this season, tying him for third place all-time for single-season wins.

Partlow, a senior, has moved into fourth place all-time with 83 career victories, while States, a junior, has 77 wins, good for sixth all-time.