by TOLEDO, OHIO – The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team dropped its first game in Mid-American Conference play as the Bulls fell 75-66 at Toledo on Saturday afternoon. With the loss the Bulls drop to 11-5 overall and 5-1 in league play.
The Bulls were led by Summer Hemphill (Seneca Nation) who recorded a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Dyaisha Fair added 14 points and three assists while Georgia Woolley scored in double figures for the 10th time in 11 games with 13 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
The teams traded baskets to start the game as Toledo held a 10-8 lead at the first media timeout. Senior forward Adebola Adeyeye and Hemphill crashed the boards out of the media scoring on back-to-back possessions and later, Fair hit Hemphill for a fastbreak bucket and the foul to give UB its first lead of the game, 17-16, but the Rockets answered with a 7-0 run to take a 23-17 lead. Hemphill knocked down a mid-range jumper to cut the lead to four, but Toledo answered with a three at the buzzer to take a 26-19 lead at the end of the first.
After an early layup from Woolley the Bulls offense stalled for almost four minutes before Woolley went back on the attack with a 5-0 run of her own, capped by a transition triple, to cut the Toledo lead to 31-26 at the media timeout. The Bulls extended the run to 10-2 on a Fair driving layup and then Hemphill knocked down a spot up three from the top of the key to trim the Toledo lead to 33-31 at the 3:13 mark. Neither team scored the rest of the quarter as it remained a two point game at the half.
The scoring drought continued for the Bulls to start the fourth quarter and Toledo capitalized, using a 10-0 run to take a 43-31 lead at the media timeout. Hemphill knocked down a mid-range jumper off the inbounds pass for UB’s first field goal of the quarter at the 4:02 mark to jumpstart a 7-0 Buffalo run that trimmed the Toledo lead to single digits at the end of the third.
It was a back-and-forth affair to start the fourth quarter before Fair knocked down a pair of free throws and Dominique Camp connected on a second chance triple to cut the Toledo lead to 61-55 at the 4:33 mark. Later, Adeyeye converted a jumper to cut the Toledo lead to 65-60 and Camp knocked down a pair of free throws to pull the Bulls within three with just over three minutes to play but the Rockets answered with a critical 7-0 run to take a double-digit lead and seal the victory.
Toledo held a 45-39 rebounding advantage. Buffalo outscored the Rockets 30-26 in the paint and scored 18 second chance points and 12 points off turnovers.
