Bulls Complete Big 4 Sweep With 46-36 Win Over St. Bonaventure

Saturday, December 7

Olean, NY

12:00 PM

7-2,0-0MAC

St. Bonaventure

1-8,0-0Atlantic 10

Buffalo

St. Bonaventure

Bulls Complete Big 4 Sweep With 46-36 Win Over St. Bonaventure

12/7/2019 2:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Olean, NY – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team defeated St. Bonaventure 46-36 at the Reilly Center on Saturday afternoon to complete the Big 4 sweep for the second straight year.

Freshman Dyaisha Fair led all scorers with 17 points, 15 of those coming in the second half, to go with six rebounds and three steals. Theresa Onwuka continued her streak of nine straight double-figure games with 10 points, five rebounds and five steals, while Marissa Hamilton recorded a career-high 10 rebounds to go with six points.

"We look at New York as the mecca of the world for basketball and we place a high importance on, and take ownership in, playing our part in winning games against anyone in the state," said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "We found a way to win against a tough, scrappy St. Bonaventure team and we did it as a collective unit."

St. Bonaventure opened the game on 5-0 run before back-to-back transition buckets by the Bulls ended a three-plus minute UB scoring drought to cut the lead to 5-4 and the Bonnies would hold a narrow 7-6 lead at the first media timeout. After another two and a half minute Bulls scoring drought, Hall found Onwuka in transition to cut the Bonnies lead to 9-8 and that would be the score at the end of the first.

Offense would continue to be a premium for both teams to start the second quarter as the Bonnies held a narrow 13-12 advantage at the media timeout. Hanna Hall found Loren Christie who drained the mid-range jumper on the first possession out of the media to give the Bulls their first lead of the game, 14-13. Dajah Logan made a three to give the Bonnies a 16-14 lead with just over two minutes to play and that would be the score at the break.

Jurnee President connected on a three on the opening possession of the third quarter but Fair answered with a triple of her own to cut the lead back to two in the early going. Later, Fair converted the bucket through contact to tie the game 19-19 but the Bonnies responded with a mini 4-1 run to take a 23-20 lead at the media timeout. Buffalo responded with a 7-2 run, highlighted by and-one buckets by Fair and Hamilton, to retake the lead 28-25 lead at the 2:30 mark and Fair would extend the run to 12-4 with four straight points to give UB a 32-27 lead at the end of the third.

The Bonnies clawed back with a 6-3 run to start the fourth quarter to cut the UB lead to 35-33 but Onwuka responded with a tough drive to the basket to put UB up 37-33 at the final media timeout. Schiffer drilled a big three in the corner and Fair slashed to the basket for two to give UB a 42-33 lead at the 2:34 mark and that would be enough for the Bulls to seal the game from the charity stripe and secure the Big 4 sweep.

The 36 Bonnies points were the fewest scored by a UB opponent this season and the 26 turnovers were also the most committed by a Buffalo opponent. Buffalo is now a perfect 44-0 in the past three years when holding opponents to 59 points or less. The Bulls won the battle on the glass by a narrow 41-39 margin, while also holding a 26-12 edge in points in the paint and forcing a season-high 26 Bonnies turnovers.

Buffalo will now have an extended 10-day break from action to focus on finals before returning home on Tuesday Dec. 17 when they will host Dayton at Alumni Arena at 7pm.