Bulls Clinch Spot in MAC Tournament With 79-65 Win Over Ohio

Wednesday, February 23

Buffalo, NY

7:00 PM

19-8,13-4MAC

Ohio

14-11,8-8MAC

Ohio

Buffalo

Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UBBulls.com

Bulls Clinch Spot in MAC Tournament With 79-65 Win Over Ohio

2/23/2022 9:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team led for all but two minutes in a dominant 79-65 win over Ohio on Wednesday night at Alumni Arena. With the win, Buffalo's third straight, UB officially clinched a spot in the upcoming Mid-American Conference Tournament. The Bulls are now 19-8 overall and 13-4 in league play.

The Bulls are now 13-1 at home, which is the most wins at Alumni Arena since the 2016-17 season and one off the Division I program record of 14 set during the 1991-92 and 1995-96 seasons.

Freshman Georgia Woolley led all scorers with 27 points to go with eight rebounds and four assists. Junior Dyaisha Fair scored 21 points while adding five rebounds and four assists and graduate forward Summer Hemphill recorded a monster double-double with 19 points and 19 rebounds.

The Bulls' defense was locked in from the tip as they held Ohio scoreless for a four-minute stretch early in the game and the offense capitalized as they used a 12-3 run, capped by four straight layups from Hemphill and Fair, to take a 14-5 lead at the 2:45 mark. UB continued to attack as Fair knocked down a deep three, Woolley sliced to the basket for two and Adebola Adeyeye powered up for an offensive rebound putback at the buzzer to give Buffalo a 25-11 lead at the end of the first. The Bulls scored 18 of their 25 first quarter points in the paint and shot 50% from the floor.

Buffalo stayed aggressive to start the second quarter as they used a 7-0 run, capped by a Woolley mid-range jumper through contact and a layup by Adeyeye off the feed from Dominique Camp, to take a 32-14 lead at the 6:48 mark but the Bobcats scored on three straight possessions to trim the UB lead to 32-21 at the 4:51 mark. Fair knocked down a deep triple and Hemphill and Loren Christie followed with big layups to complete a 7-0 run and give the Bulls their largest lead of the half, 41-19, with just over a minute to go and they would lead 43-25 at the break. The Bulls held Ohio to just 24% shooting while the UB offense shot 42% from the floor in the opening half.

Buffalo picked up where they left off as Hemphill scored on three possessions early in the third quarter and Christie knocked down a mid-range jumper to give UB a 20-point lead at the 7:49 mark. Later, Camp threw a beautiful lob pass to Christie who went up top to grab it and finished off glass through contact to put the Bulls up 52-33 at the media timeout. Woolley went into attack mode out of the timeout as she got to the charity stripe and converted four straight and then hit Hemphill with a beautiful pass who converted the easy layup as the Bulls took a 61-39 lead after three quarters of play.

The Bobcats opened the fourth quarter on a 9-0 run to cut the Buffalo lead to 61-48 and force a UB timeout at the 7:33 mark. Fair ended a four-minute UB scoring drought with a runner in the lane as the Bulls maintained a 63-52 lead at the final media timeout. Madi Mace hit a three to cut the UB lead to seven with just over three minutes to play but they would get no closer as Fair and Woolley answered with back-to-back triples to put UB back up by double digits and secure the victory.

"What a great team win," said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "You look at Summer with 19 and 19, Dyaisha with her 21 points and Georgia with her 27 and eight but then you add in Dominique with seven rebounds and six assists and a +/ of 19 and that's just special. This is a team win and if we stay locked in the foxhole, we have a pretty good chance of playing deep into March."

Christie and Adeyeye gave Buffalo solid minutes as they combined for 10 points and 13 rebounds. The Bulls dominated the glass as they pulled down a season-high 56 boards, while holding Ohio to 31, including 17 offensive rebounds which UB turned into 16 second chance points, while also doubling up the Bobcats in the paint, scoring 42 points inside. Buffalo also scored 14 points off Ohio turnovers and 10 fastbreak points.

Buffalo returns to action on Saturday, February 26 as they travel to Kent, Ohio for a pivotal matchup against the Kent State Golden Flashes. Tipoff from the M.A.C. Center is set for 1pm.