Tuesday, November 5
Buffalo, NY
7:00 pm
1-0,0-0MAC
61
vs
56
Central Conn. St.
0-1,0-0NEC
1
2
3
4
F
Central Conn. St.
11
11
21
13
56
Buffalo
17
14
19
11
61
Bulls Earn Season-Opening 61-56 Win Over Central Connecticut
11/5/2019 10:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team defeated Central Connecticut State 61-56 in the 2019-20 season-opener at Alumni Arena on Tuesday night.
The Bulls were led by freshman Dyaisha Fair who recorded a double-double in her first game as a Bull as she scored a game-high 24 points while grabbing 10 rebounds and dished out three assists. Senior Theresa Onwuka recorded a new career-high with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting and went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe to go along with five rebounds, five steals and three assists.
With the win, the Bulls are now a perfect 40-0 over the last three plus seasons when holding opponents to under 60 points.
Central Connecticut got off to a quick start, converting an and-one to start the game and scored again a couple possessions later to take an early 5-3 lead. The Bulls would respond with an 8-0 run, all courtesy of Onwuka, to take a 11-5 lead at first media timeout. The two teams would trade baskets the rest of the quarter and Buffalo would take a 17-11 after one quarter of play.
Offense would be at a premium to start the second quarter as the Bulls maintained a 20-13 lead at the media timeout. The Blue Devils would use a 6-3 run to cut the lead to four with 2:22 to play in the first half but the Bulls responded with an 8-3 run of their own, sparked by a Fair triple and a great look from Marissa Hamilton to Onwuka, to give UB the 31-22 lead at the break.
Both teams struggled in the opening half as the teams were just a combined 3-for-33 from beyond the arc, with UB shooting 9-for-30 from the floor and 2-for-19 from beyond the arc.
Fair would have a hot start to the third quarter as she converted on a driving layup and three pointer to put UB up 36-26 at the 8:33 mark. Sophomore Keowa Walters would get in on the action with back-to-back layups to put UB up 40-26 with 7:31 remaining in the quarter. A Central Connecticut 6-2 run cut the lead to 42-32 at the media timeout and the Blue Devils would continue on a 7-0 run out of the media timeout to cut the lead to 42-39 at the 3:28 mark. Fair would answer with a big and-one on the other end to stop the run and the Bulls would close the quarter on an 8-4 run to take a 50-43 lead after three quarters of play.
A quick 4-0 CCSU run cut the UB lead to 50-47 at the 8:11 mark but Onwuka and Fair responded with a 5-0 run to put the Bulls back up 55-47 at the media timeout. The Blue Devils would trim the lead to four points twice in the remaining minutes but that would be as close as they would get as the Bulls sealed the game from the charity stripe to secure the win.
The Bulls scored 26 points in the paint while recording 14 second chance points, 14 points off turnovers and converted 20 CCSU turnovers into 13 fastbreak points.
"Give credit to Central Connecticut, they are a veteran team and we are still young and finding our way," said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "Our goal is always to hold teams under 59 points and we did that tonight. You are never going to see this team quit. We are going to fight, we are going to claw, we're going to find a way and we're going to continue to adjust."
The Bulls return to action on Saturday, November 9, as they travel to Big 4 rival Niagara for a 4pm tip off against the Purple Eagles.
The Bulls were led by freshman Dyaisha Fair who recorded a double-double in her first game as a Bull as she scored a game-high 24 points while grabbing 10 rebounds and dished out three assists. Senior Theresa Onwuka recorded a new career-high with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting and went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe to go along with five rebounds, five steals and three assists.
With the win, the Bulls are now a perfect 40-0 over the last three plus seasons when holding opponents to under 60 points.
Central Connecticut got off to a quick start, converting an and-one to start the game and scored again a couple possessions later to take an early 5-3 lead. The Bulls would respond with an 8-0 run, all courtesy of Onwuka, to take a 11-5 lead at first media timeout. The two teams would trade baskets the rest of the quarter and Buffalo would take a 17-11 after one quarter of play.
Offense would be at a premium to start the second quarter as the Bulls maintained a 20-13 lead at the media timeout. The Blue Devils would use a 6-3 run to cut the lead to four with 2:22 to play in the first half but the Bulls responded with an 8-3 run of their own, sparked by a Fair triple and a great look from Marissa Hamilton to Onwuka, to give UB the 31-22 lead at the break.
Both teams struggled in the opening half as the teams were just a combined 3-for-33 from beyond the arc, with UB shooting 9-for-30 from the floor and 2-for-19 from beyond the arc.
Fair would have a hot start to the third quarter as she converted on a driving layup and three pointer to put UB up 36-26 at the 8:33 mark. Sophomore Keowa Walters would get in on the action with back-to-back layups to put UB up 40-26 with 7:31 remaining in the quarter. A Central Connecticut 6-2 run cut the lead to 42-32 at the media timeout and the Blue Devils would continue on a 7-0 run out of the media timeout to cut the lead to 42-39 at the 3:28 mark. Fair would answer with a big and-one on the other end to stop the run and the Bulls would close the quarter on an 8-4 run to take a 50-43 lead after three quarters of play.
A quick 4-0 CCSU run cut the UB lead to 50-47 at the 8:11 mark but Onwuka and Fair responded with a 5-0 run to put the Bulls back up 55-47 at the media timeout. The Blue Devils would trim the lead to four points twice in the remaining minutes but that would be as close as they would get as the Bulls sealed the game from the charity stripe to secure the win.
The Bulls scored 26 points in the paint while recording 14 second chance points, 14 points off turnovers and converted 20 CCSU turnovers into 13 fastbreak points.
"Give credit to Central Connecticut, they are a veteran team and we are still young and finding our way," said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "Our goal is always to hold teams under 59 points and we did that tonight. You are never going to see this team quit. We are going to fight, we are going to claw, we're going to find a way and we're going to continue to adjust."
The Bulls return to action on Saturday, November 9, as they travel to Big 4 rival Niagara for a 4pm tip off against the Purple Eagles.
Team Stats
CCSU
UB
FG%
.274
.333
3FG%
.125
.133
FT%
.704
.576
RB
48
43
TO
20
18
STL
12
9
Game Leaders
Pts
24
FGM
8
3FGM
4
FTM
4
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
4
FGM
2
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Women's Basketball
Forward
/ Women's BasketballGuard
/ Women's BasketballForward
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