The defensive willpower wasn’t there Thursday afternoon, and so went the Miami University women’s basketball team’s singular hold on first place in the Mid-American Conference East Division.

Visiting Buffalo outscored the RedHawks 11-3 in the final three minutes and forged a tie atop the East standings with a 78-70 triumph at Millett Hall.

“I think that throughout the game, we struggled to show our energy, show our passion, show that we can play like we’ve been playing,” said MU senior forward Kirsten Olowinski, who totaled 16 points and 13 rebounds.

“When it came down to the last couple of minutes, it came down to heart and outworking people, and we just didn’t show up today. There’s absolutely no excuse. We looked like we were unprepared, and Buffalo looked like they came to win.”

The Bulls shot 46.6 percent from the floor and sank 11 of 24 treys, getting 19 points, six boards and three assists from freshman guard Mackenzie Loesing.

Hannah Robertson collected 18 points, seven caroms and three steals for Miami, which slipped to 13-7 overall and 5-2 in the MAC. Erica Almady added a career-high 17 points and seven rebounds, and Courtney Osborn chipped in 13 points and six assists.

“Our defense was the one key that wasn’t good today,” MU coach Maria Fantanarosa said. “We couldn’t stop them in transition or their combination of penetrating and hitting 3s. They attacked us in all aspects of the game. It was an effort thing. It’s a consistent, hard-working, dictate mentality, and we didn’t have it today.

“I think our mentality every day in practice has to be more consistent with just focusing on the fundamentals. Once again, defense is the first one we talk about every day. We need to make sure that our confidence is up with a chip on our shoulder that we do still have something to prove.”

Sloane Walton tossed in 15 points, Margeaux Gupilan had 13 and Kristen Sharkey added 11 for Buffalo (7-13, 5-2). Christa Baccas also had eight points and 10 rebounds.

Loesing, a Cincinnati native who played at St. Ursula Academy, suffered a knee injury in the opening minute, then put up 17 points in the second half.

“Once she didn’t have that piercing scream, I knew she was going to be OK,” Bulls coach Felisha Legette-Jack said of Loesing going down 48 seconds into the contest (and then playing 25 minutes). “This is a program that asked her to walk on, and she thought she was a scholarship player. Thank God she believed in herself enough to come to Buffalo and earn that scholarship and present us with an opportunity to coach a great kid like her.”

Loesing scored seven of the Bulls’ last 11 points. Buffalo got outrebounded 42-32, yet held the hosts to 40.3 percent shooting (21.1 percent from 3-point range).

“Our kids just decided to rally together and play defense,” Legette-Jack said. “We don’t have a go-to player. We all have to step up, and there’s something we can learn from that — life lessons. We’re finally buying into that, slowly but surely. We’re still young, and I don’t know how tomorrow will be, but I love the fact that today was a day where they got it.”

Miami, which saw its five-game winning streak come to an end, visits Northern Illinois on Sunday at 2 p.m.

“This is one that I’m definitely not going to let go in the back of my mind, especially until our next game,” Olowinski said. “There’s still a lot of season left, and there’s a lot more to improve and defend, such as our home court. I don’t think rankings mean as much at this point as who comes out to win.”