by BUFFALO, NY – Four Bulls scored in double figures for the second straight game to lead the University at Buffalo women’s basketball team to a 69-55 wire-to-wire victory over Rhode Island at Alumni Arena on Sunday afternoon. The Bulls improve to 5-2 overall, including 4-0 at home, and have now won four straight.
Before the game, Summer Hemphill (Seneca Nation) was presented with a ceremonial game ball for her 1,000th career point, scored against Oklahoma in the Bahamas, and she would continue to give fans something about which to cheer as she scored a game-high 20 points while adding six rebounds. Freshman Georgia Woolley scored in double figures for the second straight game with 13 points, including 2-of-4 shooting from beyond the arc. Junior Dyaisha Fair stuffed the stat sheet as she scored 11 points while adding eight rebounds and nine assists and senior Jazmine Young scored in double figures for the fourth straight game with 10 points in addition to four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The Bulls got off to a hot start, led by Hemphill as she scored seven of Buffalo’s first 11 points to give UB an 11-4 lead at the first media timeout. The Rams answered, scoring on back-to-back possessions to cut the UB lead to three before Fair answered with a spot up triple to extend the lead at the 2:43 mark, but the Rams scored on their final possession of the quarter to cut the lead to 17-14 at the end of the first.
Young provided the Bulls with a spark to start the second quarter with five straight points and then Woolley and Hemphill cashed in from beyond the arc on back-to-back possessions to give Buffalo a 30-20 lead at the 5:34 mark. Later, Woolley would spot up and drain another triple on the offensive rebound assist from Adebola Adeyeye and Fair knocked down a spot up three from deep to give the Bulls a 36-24 lead and force a Rhode Island timeout at the 3:17 mark. Young continued to attack as she sliced to the basket for two and later, Fair tracked down an offensive rebound and capitalized as she drained a three to give UB a 41-27 lead with just under two minutes to play. Both offenses cooled in the final minutes before the Rams scored at the buzzer to cut the Buffalo lead to 41-29 at the half. The Bulls shot 50% from the floor, including a red hot 9-of-15 from behind the arc, in the first half.
It was a back-and-forth start to the third quarter before Young cashed in a fastbreak three and Loren Christie added a pair of free throws as the Bulls maintained a 48-36 lead at the media timeout. The Bulls used unselfish basketball out of the timeout to put together a 6-0 run on jumpers from Hemphill, Woolley and Adeyeye to take a 54-38 lead at the 2:07 mark and the defense would hold the Rams to just one made field goal over the final two minutes to give the Bulls a 57-41 lead at the end of the third.
Rhode Island started the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to eight before Woolley scored to limit the damage. Back-to back jumpers by Hemphill and Adeyeye extended the UB lead and Hemphill would convert the mid-range again to put UB up 65-52 at the 4:15 mark. Chanell Williams got a second chance three to go a minute later to cut the Buffalo lead to 10 but that would be as close as they would get as the UB defense held the Rams scoreless over the final three minutes of play and Hemphill added a pair of jumpers to seal the victory for the Bulls.
The Bulls are now a perfect 54-0 over the last five-plus seasons when holding opponents to 59 points or less. Buffalo forced 19 Rhody turnovers, turning those miscues into 17 points, while also scoring 22 points in the paint and converting nine offensive rebounds into 16 second chance points.
