by DEKALB, IL – The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team fought hard but came up just short as they fell 69-64 in overtime at Northern Illinois on Saturday afternoon. The loss snaps a five-game winning streak and drops the Bulls to 16-8 overall and 10-4 in league play.
Junior guard Dyaisha Fair led all scorers with 27 points to go with seven rebounds and two assists. Georgia Woolley scored in double figures for the 18th time in the last 19 games as she scored 15 points while adding eight rebounds and Summer Hemphill (Seneca Nation) recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 12 points and a season-high 18 rebounds.
It was a sluggish start for the Bulls as they trailed 12-2 at the first media timeout. The scoring drought extended to over five minutes before Elea Gaba got a hook shot to go with just over two minutes to play in the quarter and later, Fair turned on the jets and raced up court for a fastbreak bucket and Woolley knocked down a three from the wing to cut the NIU win to 20-9 at the end of the first.
Fair knocked down a step back triple on UB’s first possession of the second quarter. The Bulls defense locked down as they held the Huskies without a field goal for over five minutes and the offense capitalized as the Bulls used an 8-0 run, capped by a three from Woolley and an and-one bucket by Fair, to cut the lead to 21-20 at the 5:15 mark. NIU hit a three to take a 26-20 lead at the media timeout. Buffalo continued to attack as Wilson powered up for two through contact, Hemphill got a pull-up jumper off glass to go to and Fair sliced to the basket to cut the lead to 28-26 and that would be the score at the break.
The Huskies started the third quarter on an 8-0 run to take a double-digit three before Fair hit a pull-up jumper to stop the drought at the 6:45 mark. Later, Fair knocked down another triple and got a floater in the lane to drop to cut the NIU lead to 41-33 at the media timeout. Adebola Adeyeye gave the Bulls a bit of a spark off the bench as she powered up for a layup and then Hemphill hit Woolley for two to cut the lead to 45-37 but NIU held UB scoreless for the final two minutes of play as they took a 10-point lead at the end of the third. The Huskies shot 50% from the floor in the third quarter.
The teams traded baskets early in the fourth quarter as NIU maintained a 52-43 lead at the final media timeout. Buffalo used an 11-1 run, capped by buckets from Woolley and Hemphill and a three from Fair, to cut the lead to 53-50 and force an NIU timeout at the 2:43 mark. Later, a pair of free throws from Fair cut the lead to one with 1:35 to play. Woolley knocked down a corner three to tie the game at 55 with 26.5 seconds to go. The Bulls came up with a big stop and Fair raced up the court for the win, but her shot was blocked, and the game would go to overtime.
Fair went 1-of-2 at the line to give UB its first lead of the game 58-57 at the 3:02 mark but NIU answered with a three to go up 60-58. Fair then came up with a steal and hit Woolley for a transition bucket to tie the game at 60 but the Huskies scored on back-to-back possessions to go up 64-60 with just under a minute to play. Hemphill came up with a big offensive rebound and powered up for a layup to cut the lead to two with 50.6 seconds remaining and later converted a pair of free throws to cut lead back to two with 45 seconds to go but NIU was perfect from the line in the final minute to secure the victory.
Buffalo recorded 54 rebounds on the day, including 19 offensive boards which they turned into 10 points. UB also scored 11 fastbreak points and 24 points in the paint.
