Fair’s 36 Points Not Enough as Bulls Fall to Kent State in MAC Quarterfinals

Wednesday, March 11

Cleveland, OH

19-12,9-9MAC

#3 Kent State

19-11,11-7MAC

Buffalo

Kent St.

Fair’s 36 Points Not Enough as Bulls Fall to Kent State in MAC Quarterfinals

3/11/2020 10:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

CLEVELAND, OH – There won't be a repeat title for the University at Buffalo women's basketball team as the sixth-seeded Bulls fell to the third-seeded Kent State Golden Flashes, 72-66, in the quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Tournament at Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Wednesday night. The loss snapped the Bulls' six-game winning streak and the young squad finished the season with a record of 19-12.

Dyaisha Fair, who was named MAC Freshman of the Year on Tuesday, had the best game of her career, finishing with 36 points and 11 rebounds, both career highs. With multiple Buffalo players in foul trouble throughout the contest, Fair nearly single-handedly rallied the Bulls.

Whistles throughout the game made it difficult for either team to get into a rhythm. It was especially difficult for UB who had a number of key players in foul trouble for much of the game. Despite all of that, the Bulls still led 32-31 at the half.

The Golden Flashes took the lead early in the second half and tried to pull away midway through the third quarter. However, a deep three-pointer from the top of the key by Loren Christie cut the Kent State advantage to 50-47 with 1:36 left in third. But Kent State finished the quarter on a 5-0 run, including a three-pointer at the buzzer, to extend their lead to eight with one stanza to play.

A Fair layup with 8:02 left cut the Kent State lead to 57-51. However, the Bulls would only score two more points over the next four and half minutes and it looked like the Flashes were going to cruise to the victory, up 68-53, with just 3:35 left.

However, there was no quit in the Bulls as they dug deep and mounted a furious comeback fueled by the grit and determination that has become a trademark of a Felisha Legette-Jack coached team. Over the next two minutes, the Bulls mounted an 11-0 scoring run to cut the lead to 68-64 with 1:35 to play. But is wasn't enough as Kent State made its free throws down the stretch to hold off UB and advance to the tournament semifinals.

Theresa Onwuka, playing in the final game of her career, finished with six points and four rebounds in limited minutes due to foul trouble. Keowa Walters scored six points and pulled down six rebounds.

Fair's 36 points tied for fourth in school history for a single game and were the most points ever scored by a UB player in a MAC Tournament game.

"What a season we had," Legette-Jack said with a smile following the game. "We've come a long way and have done so much with the third-youngest team in the country. They just bought in and believed in this crazy old lady and we just went in and we just fought. We just believed and we just kept firing away. I'm really so proud to call these young players my players, our players, Buffalo's players. The city of Buffalo should be so proud of what we've endured, what we've overcome and what we became. These young ladies are going to be phenomenal women."