by OXFORD, OH – Five Bulls scored in double figures as the University at Buffalo women’s basketball team rung in the New Year in style with an 88-83 win at Miami (OH) on Saturday afternoon. With the win the Bulls improve to 8-4 overall and 2-0 in league play.
Junior guard Dyaisha Fair scored 26 of her game-high 28 points in the second half to go with seven rebounds and five assists. Summer Hemphill (Seneca Nation) just missed out on a double-double with 20 points and nine rebounds and Adebola Adeyeye had a big game for UB with 15 points. Junior Dominique Camp had a near double-double as well with 11 points and nine assists and Georgia Woolley extended her double figure scoring streak to seven games with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The Bulls attacked from the start as they won the jump ball and Camp sliced to the basket for two on the opening possession to jumpstart a 9-0 run, capped by a triple from Woolley and a beautiful pass from Camp to Hemphill for a transition bucket, to force a Miami timeout at the 7:48 mark. The Bulls extended the run to 11-0 before the RedHawks got their first field goal three minutes in. Miami cut the UB lead to 15-9 at the five-minute mark but the Bulls answered with a 14-3 run on baskets from Hemphill and Camp to take a 29-12 lead at the end of the first.
Adeyeye gave the Bulls a spark early in the second quarter as she got a mid-range jumper to drop plus the foul to put UB up 32-15 and they would lead 36-20 at the media timeout. The teams traded baskets out of the timeout before the UB offense stalled as the Bulls shot just 4-of-21 in the second period, but the defense held strong as Buffalo maintained a 43-28 lead at the half.
The RedHawks opened the third quarter on a 6-0 run before Fair answered with a three and then found Hemphill in transition to give the Bulls a 48-36 lead at the 7:18 mark. Later, Buffalo would rattle off a 7-0 run in just under two minutes of play, to extend their lead to 55-38 and force a Miami timeout at the 4:40 mark. Fair continued to attack as she scored on back-to-back driving layups through contact and Cheyenne McEvans knocked down a pull up jumper to put UB up 61-46 with just under two minutes to go and they would lead 64-50 at the end of the third.
After the two teams traded baskets to begin the fourth quarter, Miami cut the UB lead to 10 before Fair answered with a fantastic turnaround jumper at the 5:30 mark to give UB a 73-61 lead. The RedHawks cut the lead to eight at the five-minute mark, but Fair scored on back-to-back possessions and Hemphill sliced to the basket and finished off glass to put UB up 79-69. Miami scored on three straight trips down the floor to cut the UB lead to three at the two-minute mark, but Adeyeye answered with six straight points to put the Bulls up 85-76 with just under a minute to play. Miami then used a 6-0 run to cut the lead back to six but Woolley came up with a big defensive stop to secure the victory.
Buffalo scored 48 points in the paint and scored 17 fastbreak points. The Bulls and RedHawks were even on the glass with 40 rebounds each, but UB turned 17 offensive rebounds into 15 second chance points and scored 14 points off of 19 Miami turnovers.
