by BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team defeated crosstown rival Canisius 62-50 on Friday night. With the win, the Bulls start the season 5-0 for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
Five Bulls scored in double figures, led by fifth year guard Chellia Watson who scored 12 points to go with five rebounds and four assists. Fellow fifth year Noelani Cornfield stuffed the stat sheet for the second straight game as she scored 11 points while adding eight rebounds, five assists and a career-high eight steals. Also scoring in double figures were Kirsten Lewis-Williams with 11 points and Alexis Davis and Terah Harness added 10 points each.
Davis gave the Bulls are spark early on, converting a pair of mid-range jumpers, before Lewis-Williams blew by her defender for a bucket plus the foul to give the Bulls an early lead but the Golden Griffins would tie the game at seven at the first media timeout. The hosts extended the run to 10-0 out of the break to take a six-point lead before Lewis-Williams made a heads-up play, grabbing the offensive rebound and finishing for a layup through contact in the final seconds, to cut the Canisius lead to three at the end of the first.
The Bulls locked down on the defensive end of the floor and the offense capitalized to start the second quarter as Cornfield came up with a steal and scored before Ariana Seawell finished with a tough layup off glass to cap a 6-0 run to put UB up 16-13 and force a Canisius timeout at the 6:39 mark. The Golden Griffins tied the game on a triple before Cornfield came up with another steal and Harness got a floater to drop off an offensive rebound to put UB back up by three at the 4:01 mark. The teams then traded defensive stops and free throws before Cornfield came up with yet another steal and found Seawell for a layup to give the Bulls a 25-23 lead at the half.
Buffalo continued to turn defense into offense as they forced five turnovers in the first two minutes of the third quarter, and the offense took advantage as Lewis-Williams found Cornfield for a transition layup and Watson followed with a tough floater off glass on UB’s next possession to put the Bulls up 31-23 and force a Canisius timeout. The Bulls would extend their lead to 14 on a layup by Watson before the Golden Griffins answered with a 5-0 lead to cut the lead to single digits, but Cornfield picked another pocket, and Watson converted the fastbreak layup to put UB up by 11 and they would lead 45-30 at the end of the third.
The Bulls would take their largest lead of the game, 51-33, on a Harness jumper but Canisius used a 6-0 run to pull within 11. The hosts would extend the run to 10-2 and cut the lead back to single digits at the 1:40 mark, but that would be as close as they would get as UB went five-of-six from the charity stripe in the final minute of play to secure the victory.
Buffalo dominated inside, doubling up Canisius 42-20 on points in the paint, while continuing to turn defense into offense as they forced the hosts into 30 turnovers, scoring 32 points off those miscues and adding 20 fastbreak points. The Bulls also won the battle on the glass, including 21 offensive rebounds which they turned into 15 second chance points.
