Bulls Lead Wire-to-Wire, Defeat Ball State 67-62

Wednesday, February 16

Muncie, IN

6:30pm

17-8,11-4MAC

Ball State

14-9,7-6MAC

Buffalo

Ball St.

Bulls Lead Wire-to-Wire, Defeat Ball State 67-62

2/16/2022 8:57:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

MUNCIE, IN – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team led from start to finish as they defeated Ball State 69-62 at Worthen Arena on Wednesday night. With the win the Bulls improve to 17-8 overall and 11-4 in league play.

Junior guard Dyaisha Fair turned in another stellar performance as she eclipsed the 30-point mark for the second time in three games, with a game-high 31 points to go with nine rebounds and two steals. Freshman Georgia Woolley also scored in double figures with 10 points and Summer Hemphill pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds.

The Bulls were aggressive from the start as they scored on their first two possessions to spark a 7-2 run and later, Hemphill sliced to the basket for two and the foul to give the Bulls a 9-5 lead at the first media timeout. The Cardinals got to the charity stripe and converted four straight free throws to cut the UB lead to three at the 3:36 mark. The Buffalo offense continued to struggle before Elea Gaba hit Dominique Camp with a great pass and later, Woolley hit Wilson on the block, and she powered up for a bucket to put the Bulls up 16-12 at the end of the first.

Buffalo opened the second quarter on an 8-3 run, capped by a pair of driving layups by Fair, to take a nine point lead, but the Cardinals answered with a 5-0 run to cut the lead back to four. Woolley had a big rejection on the defensive end and took it coast-to-coast for two and later, Loren Christie pulled down an offensive rebound and powered up for a bucket to put UB up 30-22 at the 4:45 mark. Fair and Woolley continued to attack as they scored six straight points to give the Bulls a 10-point lead but Ball State got an easy layup in the final seconds to cut the lead to 37-29 at the half.

The teams traded baskets early in the third quarter before Woolley came up with a steal and hit Fair for a fastbreak basket and later, Fair found Hemphill with a beautiful no look pass, and she knocked down the mid-range jumper to cap a 6-0 UB run and put the Bulls up 45-33 and force a Cardinals timeout at the 5:15 mark. Jazmine Young gave the Bulls good minutes out of the media timeout as she sliced to the basket for two and later, Fair found Hemphill with a great pass to put the Bulls up by 12. The teams traded baskets over the final four minutes as Buffalo maintained a 51-45 lead at the end of the third.

The Bulls continued to attack to start the fourth quarter as they used a 6-2 run, capped by a beautiful no look dish from Hemphill to Adebola Adeyeye, to give Buffalo a 10-point lead at the 6:23 mark. Fair knocked down a step-back triple to put the Bulls up 60-47 but the Cardinals answered with an 10-2 lead to cut the lead to five at the 2:33 mark and would later hit a three to trim the UB lead to 62-60 with under a minute remaining but Fair curled off the screen and answered with a big triple of her own to put UB up five with 29 seconds to. Ball State scored out of a timeout to make it a one possession game, but Fair converted a pair of free throws in the final seconds to seal the victory.

Buffalo dominated the paint, scoring 40 points inside, while also scoring 11 points off Ball State turnovers.

Up next, Buffalo returns home to host Miami (OH) on Saturday, February 19. It is Alumni Day for the Bulls as well as Hall of Fame weekend at Alumni Arena, with the women kicking things off at 1pm in the first game of a doubleheader with the UB men who host Western Michigan at 4pm.