Comeback Falls Short in 72-70 Loss To Ball State

Wednesday, January 26

Buffalo, NY

7:00 PM

11-7,5-3MAC

Ball State

12-7,5-4MAC

Ball St.

Buffalo

Comeback Falls Short in 72-70 Loss To Ball State

1/26/2022 9:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

BUFFALO, NY – For the second straight game, the University at Buffalo women's basketball team had a chance to tie the game on the final possession but a pair of contested layups from Georgia Woolley and Summer Hemphill came up short as the Bulls fell 72-70 to Ball State at Alumni Arena on Wednesday night. With the loss, the Bulls drop to 11-7 overall and 5-3 in league play.

Woolley led all scorers with a career-high 24 points, including three triples and 7-of-7 shooting from the charity stripe, to go along with five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Junior guard Dyaisha Fair also had a solid performance, scoring 22 points to go with four rebounds and five assists. Junior forward Loren Christie recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds and Hemphill just missed that mark with eight points and 10 rebounds.

Woolley was red hot for the Bulls as she scored 12 early points, including 3-of-4 shooting from behind the arc, to pace the Bulls. Ball State answered with their own fire power from deep, hitting five triples to go up by three, before Fair knocked down a corner triple to tie the game at 19 at the three-minute mark. The Bulls offense cooled as they were held with out a field goal for the rest of the quarter while the Cardinals used a 5-0 run to take a 24-19 lead at the end of the first.

Woolley came up with a steal and scored on the first possession of the second quarter to cut the lead back to three. The teams traded baskets and defensive stops before Christie finished through contact to cut the Ball State lead to 28-25 at the media timeout. The Cardinals extended their lead to seven at the two-minute mark before the Bulls used a 7-0 run, highlighted by an and-one bucket by Christie and four straight points from Fair, to tie the game at 34 but Ally Becki heaved a shot from three-quarter court that went in at the buzzer to put Ball State 37-34 at the half.

The Bulls came out of the locker room aggressive as Dominique Camp drove to the basket and got the floater to fall plus the foul to trim the lead to two early in the third quarter. Later, Woolley came up with the steal and hit Fair up ahead for a fastbreak layup to make it a one point game but the Cardinals answered with back-to-back threes to take a 49-41 lead at the 4:31 mark. The Bulls continued to chip away as Woolley knocked down four straight free throws and Fair and Hemphill added a pair of layups to cap a 6-0 UB run to end the quarter and cut the Ball State lead to 54-51 at the end of the third.

The Cardinals used an 8-0 run to take a double-digit lead early in the fourth quarter. The Bulls answered with a 6-0 run and later Fair flew up the court and finished the fastbreak layup to cut the lead to 65-59 at the 4:12 mark. Ball State scored to extend the lead to eight, but the Bulls rallied, using a 7-0 run, including a fastbreak and-one bucket from Fair and a pair of free throws by Woolley, to cut the lead to 67-66 at the 1:41 mark. Woolley continued to attack as she scored on back-to-back possessions to pull UB back within one with 31 seconds to go. Ball State would then go to the line with 27 seconds remaining and make one of two to take a 72-70 lead. Buffalo had one last chance as Woolley sliced to the basket for a layup and Hemphill got her miss and went back up through contact, but no call was made as time expired.

The Bulls won the battle in the paint 36-24 and scored 14 fastbreak points, but the Cardinals held the edge on the glass, outrebounding Buffalo 46-30 while scoring 14 points off UB turnovers.

Buffalo returns to action on Saturday, January 29 when they host Northern Illinois on Kids Day at Alumni Arena at 2pm.