Bulls Come Up Short, Fall at Northern Illinois 81-75

Saturday, February 13

DeKalb, IL

2:00 PM

11-6,8-4MAC

Northern Illinois

11-6,9-3MAC

Buffalo

Northern Ill.

Bulls Come Up Short, Fall at Northern Illinois 81-75

2/13/2021 4:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

DEKALB, IL – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought contest at Northern Illinois, 81-75, on Saturday afternoon. With the loss the Bulls fall to 11-6 overall and 8-4 in league play.

Buffalo was led by sophomore Dyaisha Fair who scored 18 points to go with five rebounds, six assists and six steals. Freshman Cheyenne McEvans recorded her second straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds and Jazmine Young also scored in double figures with 10 points to go with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.

After a slow start to the game, Hanna Hall would get the Bulls on the board with a corner triple at the 7:11 mark but NIU would lead 8-5 at the first media timeout. The Bulls used a 9-0 run, started by back-to-back baskets by Elea Gaba and capped by a three from Fair, to take a 15-11 lead at the 2:27 mark. The Huskies would cut the UB lead to four but back-to-back three's from Hall and Fair in the final minute of the quarter would give Buffalo a 25-17 lead at the end of the first.

The Huskies opened the second quarter on an 8-2 run to cut the UB lead to two, but back-to-back buckets by Young and Fair would put the Bulls back on top 31-25 at the 6:36 mark. The Huskies would continue to heat up from beyond the arc as Grace Hunter knocked down a corner triple to tie the game 31-31 and NIU would maintain a 35-34 lead at the media timeout. The Bulls would then take advantage of a two minute Huskies scoring drought to close the quarter on a 6-0 run and take a 42-37 lead at the half.

After a slow start to the third quarter for both teams, the Huskies used a 9-0 run to take a 51-47 lead at the 5:43 mark. Young converted on a pull up jumper in the lane to end a three-plus minute UB scoring drought and cut the NIU lead to 51-49 at the media timeout. The Bulls would tie the game at 51 on an offensive rebound putback by McEvans and later, McEvans would convert on a bucket in traffic and Fair would come up with the steal and lay it in at the buzzer to cap a 6-2 UB run and tie the game 57-57 at the end of three quarters of play.

The two teams would trade baskets and stops to begin the fourth quarter before the Huskies used a mini 4-0 run to take a 65-61 lead at the 4:31 mark. McEvans cut the NIU lead to one on a triple from the top of the key but Janae Poisson answered with a triple of their own to maintain a 68-64 lead at the 3:07 mark. The Huskies went on a 5-0 run at the free throw line to take a 77-69 lead before Casey Valenti-Paea hit a spot up three from the top of the key to cut the NIU lead to 77-72 with 26.6 seconds remaining. Later, Schiffer hit a big three from the corner in transition to cut the lead to 79-75 with 20 seconds to go but the Huskies would seal the game at the charity stripe to secure the victory.

Northern Illinois shot 48% from beyond the arc and went 21-of-25 at the free throw line while outrebounding Buffalo 54-43. The Bulls edged the Huskies 30-28 in the paint and scored 17 points off of 20 NIU turnovers.

Buffalo returns to action on Wednesday, February 17 as they host Ball State at Alumni Arena.