Bulls Fall To #1 South Carolina in Battle 4 Atlantis Opener

Saturday, November 20

Paradise Island, Bahamas

7:30 pm

1-1,0-0MAC

South Carolina

4-0,0-0SEC

Buffalo

South Carolina

Photo by: Battle 4 Atlantis

Bulls Fall To #1 South Carolina in Battle 4 Atlantis Opener

11/20/2021 10:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

PARADISE ISLAND, BAHAMAS – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team cut the South Carolina lead down to six midway through the third quarter but a pair of offensive droughts in the second half proved to be costly as the Bulls fell to the top-ranked Gamecocks 88-60 in their opening game of the Bad Boy Mowers Women's Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament on Saturday night.

The Bulls were led by junior guard Dyaisha Fair who proved she is one of the best players in the country as she scored 22 points to go along with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Sophomore Cheyenne McEvans also scored in double-figures with 10 points and added six rebounds.

It was a slow start to the game offensively for the Bulls as Aliyah Boston scored the first six points of the game for South Carolina before Summer Hemphill found Adebola Adeyeye with a beautiful pass to cut the lead to 6-2 at the 5:36 mark and they would trail 9-4 at the first media timeout. Fair started to heat up as she connected on a corner three to cut the lead to 9-7 but the Gamecocks answered with a triple at the other end. The Bulls continued to attack as McEvans, Fair and Hemphill connected on three straight jumpers to cut the lead to 16-14 and later, Fair found Loren Christie with a beautiful pass on the block as the Bulls cut the lead to 19-16 at the end of the first quarter.

South Carolina started the second quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 25-16 lead before Hemphill converted a pair of free throws to slow the attack. Later, Hemphill would drain a long two to cut the lead to 27-21 but Kamilla Cardoso answered with a second chance layup to extend the Gamecocks lead to 10 at the five-minute mark. Christie knocked down a three from the top of the key out of the media to cut the lead to 31-24. The two teams traded baskets as McEvans converted on a second chance layup and Fair scored on back-to-back possessions to cut the lead to 41-33 but Laeticia Amihere converted on a layup as time expired to give the Gamecocks a 45-33 lead at the half.

McEvans gave the Bulls a spark to start the third quarter as she scored on back-to-back possessions and Dominique Camp followed with a mid-range jumper to cut the lead to 45-39 at the 7:36 mark. UB continued to chip away as Fair knocked down a triple on the wing off the offensive rebound from McEvans but the Gamecocks answered with a three of their own to take a 55-43 lead at the media timeout. Fair and Christie connected on a pair of jumpers to cut the lead to nine out of the timeout, but South Carolina answered with an 11-2 run, while holding the Bulls without a field goal for the final four minutes of the quarter, to take a 67-49 lead through three quarters of play.

Camp knocked down a three early in the fourth quarter and later, Fair drained a three to cut the lead to 76-55, but the Bulls offense would hit another lull as they were held without a field goal for the final six minutes.

South Carolina shot over 57% from the floor and outrebounded Buffalo 49-26, while scoring 48 points in the paint. The Bulls forced the Gamecocks into 22 turnovers but UB struggled offensively shooting just 33% from the floor and 65% from the charity stripe.

"We didn't win but we've learned," said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "We did some really good things and stayed with them and started to push the envelope a bit. When we stopped making shots, we needed to change our game plan and we didn't and that's on me. Dyaisha showed up on the big stage while everyone was watching. If we get Summer to be able to play 40 minutes and get Ade to stay out of foul trouble, we can do some special things in the next couple games"

Buffalo returns to action tomorrow as they take on Oklahoma at 7:30pm.