Bulls Host Daemen in Exhibition Contest on Saturday

Saturday, October 28

Buffalo, NY

2:00pm

University at Buffalo

Daemen (Exhibition)

Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UBBulls.com

Bulls Host Daemen in Exhibition Contest on Saturday

10/27/2023 11:10:00 AM | Women's Basketball

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BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team welcomes the Daemen Wildcats to Alumni Arena for an exhibition contest on Saturday afternoon at 2pm.

The Bulls return just four players and one starter from last year's squad that advanced to the MAC Tournament for the 11^th straight year in the first season of the Becky Burke era. With five transfers and six true freshmen on the roster, the Bulls are one of the youngest/newest teams in the country. This year's roster also has a unique international flare with seven players representing six nations, tied for the third most in the country.

Coach Burke also revamped her coaching staff with passionate and talented individuals with ties to the Western New York are in associate head coach Jacey Brooks and assistant coach James Ewing, while elevating Erin Sinnott to assistant coach. Director of Basketball Operations Allese Williams also has ties to Coach Burke, having played for her at her first stop at Embry Riddle (AZ).

Sophomore guard/forward Hattie Ogden and graduate student forward Kiara Johnson will the most familiar faces for Bulls fans this season, with the former coming off a solid rookie campaign in which she appeared in all 28 games, averaging 5.1 points and 2.1 rebounds per game while shooting 40% from behind the arc. Johnson appeared in six games before missing the remainder of the season with an injury.

Perhaps the biggest boost for UB comes with the highly anticipated return of redshirt senior guard Chellia Watson who had to sit out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. Watson followed Coach Burke to Buffalo after earning All-Big South First Team honors, averaging 15.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game as a sophomore.

The Bulls recruited a pair of junior transfers in Sitota Gines and Katie Burton from St. John's while also adding junior forward Ida Jonsson Ojala from Capilano University and junior center Chanteese Craig from the junior college level. Rounding out the transfers is senior guard Rana Elhusseini who came to Buffalo following a standout career at Edinboro University in which she earned WBCA honorable mention All-American and First Team All-PSAC honors after ranking third in the conference and 25^th nationally with 19.0 points per game and ranked sixth in the league in assists per game with 4.7 per contest.

Also joining the Bulls and looking to make an impact as freshmen are Alexis Davis, Kirsten Lewis-Williams, Paula Lopez, high school teammates Jessica Wangolo and Ella Take and Chryssi Gouzelou.

The Wildcats return three starters and a total of nine players from their 2022-23 team which went 20-5 overall and claimed the ECC regular-season and tournament title for the second-straight year, earning them the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament. Daemen has posted at least 20 wins in three of the last four seasons = and advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament each of the last four seasons, claiming its first-ever NCAA East Region title and advancing to the Division II "Elite Eight" in 2021. Head coach Jenepher Banker, who has been honored as the ECC Coach of the Year the past three seasons, is entering her eighth season at Daemen and owns a record of 120-60 with the Wildcats. Former UB great Summer Hemphill is in her second year as an assistant coach on the Daemen staff.

For the latest updates and behind the scenes look at the Buffalo women's basketball program, make sure to follow them on Twitter and Instagram at @UBwomenshoops.