Bulls Feast on Bonnies to Complete Big 4 Sweep

Wednesday, November 22

Buffalo, NY

1:00pm

4-1,0-0MAC

St. Bonaventure

1-4,0-0Atlantic 10

St. Bonaventure

Buffalo

Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UBBulls.com

Bulls Feast on Bonnies to Complete Big 4 Sweep

11/22/2023 3:42:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

BUFFALO, NY – For the first time since 2019, the University at Buffalo women's basketball team swept all three Big 4 opponents as the Bulls defeated St. Bonaventure 78-69 on Wednesday afternoon at Alumni Arena.

Four Bulls scored in double figures, led by redshirt senior guard Chellia Watson who exploded for a season-high 30 points. Freshman Kirsten Lewis-Williams recorded a career-high with 19 points to go with eight rebounds and sophomore Hattie Ogden scored in double figures for the third straight game, recording her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Rana Elhusseini also scored in double figures with 13 points, including nine in the second half.

The Bonnies jumped out to an early lead with triples on their first three possessions, but the Bulls battled back as Lewis-Williams got to the rack for a pair of layups and Watson drilled a three from the corner as the game was knotted at 11 at the first media timeout. The Bonnies continued to heat up from beyond the arc as they made five threes in the opening quarter to take a 31-19 lead at the end of the first.

Lewis-Williams gave the Bulls a spark to start the second quarter with an and-one bucket on UB's first possession. Later, Watson and Elhusseini scored layups on three straight possessions to pull Buffalo within six at the 6:26 mark. After an SBU layup Ida Jonsson Ojala hit Ogden on the block with a beautiful high low pass, but the Bonnies answered with a triple to take a 41-33 lead at the media timeout. Watson continued to attack as she got to the rim for layups on two straight possessions to pull UB back within six, but the Bonnies answered with a second chance three to take a 47-40 lead at the half.

The Bulls scored on their first two possessions of the third quarter to cut the lead to three and they continued to attack as Watson got to the rim for another layup before Elhusseini flipped a pass to a trailing Ogden and she buried a three to cut the SBU lead to one, but the Bonnies scored on their next possession to take a 53-50 lead at the media timeout. Ogden tied the game at 55 on a triple from the wing before Watson put the ball on her hip and drove strong through contact for a layup to give the Bulls the lead for the first time since the opening quarter with one minute remaining. The Bulls then added to their lead on their final possession as Ogden grabbed an offensive rebound and powered up for a bucket at the buzzer to put UB up 59-55 at the end of the third.

The visitors hit back-to-back threes to retake the lead early in the fourth quarter, but then Buffalo got going from beyond the arc as Ogden and Elhusseini answered with a pair of deep triples and Watson got a floater in the lane to drop to cap an 11-2 run to give UB a 70-63 lead and force a SBU timeout at 4:48 mark. The Bulls extended their lead to 13 on a second chance layup by Lewis-Williams and a spot up corner triple from Elhusseini and that would be more than enough seal the victory.

For the second straight game, Buffalo won the battle on the glass that led to 12 second chance points while also dominating inside, holding a 42-26 edge in the paint. The UB defense continues to shine as the Bulls forced 17 SBU turnovers, scoring 14 points off those miscues, while adding 10 fastbreak points.

"I'm extremely proud of what this group has done so far this season," said head coach Becky Burke. "Obviously this one means a lot being the first time we've won all Big 4 games since 2019. It's such an enjoyable group to coach and they work extremely hard every single day. I'm happy for them to see all their hard work pay off."

Up next, Buffalo will host Kutztown on Sunday, November 26 at 1pm.