by BUFFALO, NY – University at Buffalo women’s basketball redshirt senior Summer Hemphill (Seneca Nation) returned to the court for the first time in over a year to spark a dominant performance by the Bulls in an 87-45 win at Canisius on Sunday afternoon.
Sophomore Dyaisha Fair led all scorers with 17 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists. Adebola Adyeye had a breakout game, scoring 15 points while pulling down nine rebounds. Hemphill added 11 points and six rebounds in her first game back and Elea Gaba also scored in double figures with 13 points.
Buffalo took an early 4-0 lead on two straight buckets by Adeyeye. The two teams would then trade baskets as the game would be knotted at nine at the first media timeout. Hemphill made an immediate impact, converting on back-to-back buckets to give UB a 13-9 lead at the 3:24 mark and the Bulls would close the quarter on a 9-2 run to take an 18-11 lead at the end of the first.
The Bulls would go to work in the paint to start the second quarter as Keowa Walters found Loren Christie for the easy high-low bucket and Adeyeye converted on an offensive rebound putback to put UB up 25-14 at the 7:14 mark. Cheyenne McEvans would get into the mix with back-to-back baskets to give the Bulls a 29-16 lead at the media timeout. The Southfield, MI native would continue to heat up as she went on a 5-0 run of her own to put UB up 39-20 and they would lead 40-22 at the half.
It was a back-and-forth affair to start the third quarter before a three from Hanna Hall and a runner in the paint by Fair gave the Bulls a 25 point lead at the 6:21 mark. The offense would continue to click as the Bulls used a 9-0 run, capped by a transition three by Jessika Schiffer off of a great feed from Fair to put UB up 67-35 and force a Canisius timeout at the 2:18 mark and the Bulls would lead 69-35 through three quarters of play.
Gaba took over to start the fourth quarter as she scored the first 12 points of the quarter for the Bulls to put UB up 81-40 with four minutes to play in the game and put the game out of reach.
The Bulls shot just under 52% from the floor on the day, thanks in part to a dominating performance in the paint as the Bulls outscored the Griffs 50-12 inside. Buffalo also dominated on the glass, winning the rebounding battle 54-20, including turning 21 offensive boards into 26 second chance points.
“What a fun day,” said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. “It’s been 14 months since Summer Hemphill touched the floor and to get her out there for 12-15 minutes just warmed my heart. I know how hard she has been working and to see her out there flying around, it did something special for the team. I’m just really grateful for the opportunity to coach these young people through the tough times and to see the blessings come before you.
