Bulls Victorious in Regular Season Opener

Monday, November 6

Buffalo, NY

5:00pm

1-0,0-0MAC

Canisius

0-1,0-0MAAC

Canisius

Buffalo

Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UBBulls.com

Bulls Victorious in Regular Season Opener

11/6/2023 8:44:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team used a strong second half performance to defeat crosstown rival Canisius 69-60 in the regular season opener at Alumni Arena on Monday night.

Four Bulls scored in double figures led by redshirt senior guard Chellia Watson who scored a game-high 21 points to go with six rebounds and six assists. Freshman Kirsten Lewis-Williams turned in a stellar performance in the first game of her UB career, scoring 16 points, and senior guard Rana Elhusseini added 12 points. Sophomore Hattie Ogden nearly missed out on a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Canisius scored the first four points of the game as the Bulls' offense stalled but they broke the drought in a big way as Watson swatted a layup away and then found Lewis-Williams in transition for an and-one bucket to tie the game at four. The Golden Griffins retook the lead at the four-minute mark before Watson sliced to the basket for two and then hit Lewis-Williams for a transition basket to put UB back on top. Later, Ogden and Elhusseini drilled a pair of deep triples to give the Bulls a 16-14 lead at the end of the first.

Watson continued to attack as she converted another and-one bucket to start the second quarter before Paula Lopez flipped a pass to Alexis Davis who drove strong to the basket for an easy layup. Later, Watson was at it again, blowing by her defender for a layup through contact to put UB up by one, but Canisius responded with a jumper at the other end to take a 25-24 lead at the media timeout. The teams then traded baskets before the visitors closed the quarter on a 6-2 run to take a 32-26 lead at the half.

Canisius extended their lead to 10 early in the third quarter but the Bulls stayed the course as Watson and Lewis-Williams scored on three straight possessions to cap a 9-3 run and cut the lead to 44-38 at the media timeout. The Bulls would then extend their run to 15-3 as Davis got an offensive rebound plus the putback, Watson got a floater in the lane to drop, and Lewis-Williams blew by her defender as the Bulls tied the game at 46 but Canisius scored on an out-of-bounds play in the final seconds to take a two-point lead at the end of the third.

Ogden gave the Bulls a spark to start the fourth quarter as she drilled a three from the top of the key and later, Watson followed with a step-back triple of her own, to put UB up 52-50 at the 7:32 mark. Buffalo continued to clamp down on defense and they turned it into points as Elhusseini came up with a steal and scored on the other end and later, Ogden converted a second chance layup before Watson drilled another three from the top of the key to cap a 9-0 run and give UB its largest lead of the game, 61-52, at the 4:10 mark. Watson wasn't done yet as she banked home a triple from the wing and that would be all the Bulls would need as they sealed the game from the charity stripe.

The Bulls turned defense into offense, scoring 21 points off 18 Golden Griffins' turnovers while adding 12 fastbreak points and owning a 34-22 edge in the paint.

"I'm happy to start the season 1-0 and to win a crosstown game that we take a lot of pride in here at Buffalo," said head coach Becky Burke. "This team is very young, we have a lot of new players, but they're going to be really special. Our staff did a great job all week and Coach Brooks had us really well prepared to win this game. I'm excited to continue to get better and our players are too. This is a fun group to coach."

Up next, Buffalo will hit the road to participate in their first game of the inaugural MAC-SBC Challenge as they travel to Norfolk, VA to take on the Old Dominion Monarchs on Saturday, November 11. First tip is set for 4pm.