by BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team outscored James Madison 43-19 in the second half to defeat the Dukes 62-45 at Alumni Arena on Saturday afternoon. With the win the Bulls improve to 3-2 on the year and 2-0 at home.
Junior guard Dyaisha Fair led the Bulls offensively with 26 points to go along with two assists, four steals and two blocks. Sophomore Cheyenne McEvans was fantastic on both ends of the floor, scoring 14 points while adding nine rebounds, six assists and four steals and senior Jazmine Young also scored in double figures with 11 points. Summer Hemphill (Seneca Nation) dominated the glass as she pulled down a season-high 13 rebounds.
The UB defense was stifling from the jump as they held the Dukes without a field goal for the first four minutes of the game while the offense used a 5-0 run, capped by a Fair three, to take an early lead and they would lead 9-4 at the media timeout but JMU responded with an 11-1 run to take a 15-10 lead at the end of the first.
Hemphill, McEvans and Fair gave the Bulls a spark as the Bulls rattled off a 7-0 run in just over a minute to tie the game at 17 at the 8:14 mark and force a JMU timeout. Both teams would go on a prolonged scoring drought out of the timeout before Fair found McEvans under the basket and she converted off glass to give UB a 19-17 lead but the Dukes would close the half on a 9-0 run to take a 26-19 lead at the half.
After a slow start to the third quarter, Fair put the team on her back as she put together a 10-0 run by herself to give the Bulls a 29-28 lead at the five-minute mark. Out of the media timeout, Loren Christie came up with a block and McEvans knocked down the midrange-jumper in transition to extend the run to 12-0 before the Dukes scored to cut the lead to one at the 3:44 mark. The Bulls continued to attack as Fair hit a spot up triple and Young converted on a mid-range jumper in the final minute of play to give the Bulls a 40-36 lead at the end of the third.
Fair continued to heat up as she knocked down a three to put UB up 43-37 early in the fourth quarter and then McEvans took over as she came up with a block and then got the bucket and the foul at the other end to give Bulls a 47-39 lead and force a JMU timeout at the 6:48 mark. McEvans continued to impress as she had a highlight reel assist to Young in transition and later tracked down an offensive rebound and scored to give UB a 51-39 lead at the 4:07 mark. Buffalo would extend the lead to 19 on five straight points by Young and a Hemphill transition bucket to take a 60-41 lead with just under two minutes to play and that was more than enough to secure the victory.
