Bulls Battle To End in 80-67 Loss To Tennessee

Saturday, March 19

Knoxville, TN

3:00 PM

Tennessee

Bulls Battle To End in 80-67 Loss To Tennessee

3/19/2022 6:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

KNOXVILLE, TN – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team fought hard for 40 minutes but came up short as they fell to Tennessee 80-67 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at on Saturday afternoon at Thompson-Boling Arena.

The Bulls were led by junior guard Dyaisha Fair who proved once again why she is one of the best players in the country as she scored a game-high 25 points to go with five rebounds, seven assists and two steals. Freshman Georgia Woolley impressed as well as she scored 15 points while adding three rebounds, three assists and a career-high seven steals. Graduate student Summer Hemphill scored eight points and grabbed 10 rebounds in her final game in the blue and white and Dominique Camp added nine points.

"I'm so proud of these young women," said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. "They left it all out there. We fought so hard to figure out who we were and one thing that I know that we have is a sisterhood. Ten years from now they will be a force with which to be reckoned in our world. They are going to have this love, family, and sisterhood forever. I can't even put into words how incredibly proud I am of each and every one of them."

The Lady Vols scored on their first three possessions and would later get a steal and score to go up 8-0 and force a UB timeout at the seven minute-mark. The Bulls answered with a 7-0 run as Hemphill got a big rebound and hit Fair for a transition three before Woolley followed with a steal and fastbreak layup and Fair got a floater to drop to cut the lead to one at the 4:41 mark. The Bulls' offense stalled out of the media timeout and Tennessee extended their lead to five before Fair knocked down a step-back triple to pull UB within two with just over a minute to play. Buffalo continued to attack as Camp hit Hemphill for an easy layup and Woolley drained a deep three at the buzzer to give the Bulls a 17-15 lead at the end of the first.

Woolley continued to heat up as she knocked down a spot up three off a UT turnover on the first possession of the second quarter, but the Lady Vols answered with an 8-0 run to retake the lead, 23-20, at the 7:20 mark. Back-to-back jumpers from Loren Christie and Fair cut the lead to one a minute later and then Fair hit Camp with a beautiful pass, resulting in a fastbreak bucket, to put UB up 26-25 at the 5:17 mark. The Bulls were held without a field goal for three minutes and Tennessee capitalized as they extended their lead to 31-28 before a pair of free throws by Hemphill cut the lead back to one with just over a minute to play and UT took 32-30 lead at the break.

Camp converted a mid-range jumper and Fair found Hemphill with a beautiful pass for a transition bucket to give UB a two-point lead early in the third quarter. Tennessee used a 6-0 run to go up 40-34 before Camp quieted the crowd with a three from the wing to cut the lead to three at the 6:17 mark and later, Fair made a runner off glass to keep it a one possession game at the media timeout. Adebola Adeyeye got her own rebound off a missed free throw and kicked it out to Fair who hit a three from the top of the key to tie the game at 42. The Lady Vols answered with a 6-0 run to go up 48-42 at the 3:21 mark but the Bulls continued to chip away as Fair stopped on a dime and dropped a mid-range jumper and later, Woolley got a steal and hit Camp for an easy layup to pull the Bulls within five with 2:38 to go in the quarter. The Buffalo offense hit a snag before Camp hit Fair for a transition three and Woolley poked the ball loose and converted the fastbreak layup to pull UB within four, but Jordan Walker banked home a floater at the buzzer to give Tennessee a 57-51 lead at the end of the third.

Fair curled off a screen and hit a three to pull UB back within five early in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Vols answered with an 10-0 run to go up 69-54 at the 6:49 mark. Hemphill powered up for a big offensive rebound putback and later Woolley knocked down a second chance three to cut the UT lead to 12 at the 4:43 mark. The Bulls held the Lady Vols scoreless for two minutes but only managed a pair of free throws on the offensive end as they trailed 73-63 with just over three minutes remaining. Tennessee used a 5-0 run to take their largest lead of the game, 78-63, at the two-minute mark before Fair snapped the UB scoring drought with a jumper at the 1:45 mark but the Bulls would get no closer than 13 the rest of the way.

The Lady Vols held a significant edge on the glass, but the Bulls were able to force Tennessee into 19 turnovers, scoring 19 points off those miscues, while also adding 21 fastbreak points. Despite UT's significant size advantage, UB was also able to grab 17 offensive rebounds and scored 26 points in the paint.

The Bulls finished the regular season with a 25-9 overall record, including tying a program-record with 16 Mid-American Conference wins and 14 home wins.