Saturday, January 13
Buffalo, NY
2:00pm
8-6,2-2MAC
59
vs
57
Akron
6-8,1-3MAC
1
2
3
4
F
Akron
17
7
12
21
57
Buffalo
18
12
13
16
59
Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UBBulls.com
Bulls Earn Gutsy Win Over Akron on Saturday
1/13/2024 5:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team (8-6, 2-2 MAC) earned a hard-fought 59-57 win over Akron at Alumni Arena on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulls were once again led offensively by redshirt senior guard Chellia Watson who scored a game-high 28 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists. Sophomore Hattie Ogden recorded nine points and six rebounds while freshman Alexis Davis added nine points and freshman Kirsten Lewis-Williams pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
The Zips hit back-to-back threes to start the game, but the Bulls answered with an 8-0 run, capped by threes from Rana Elhusseini and Ogden, to take their first lead of the game just shy of the media timeout. Ogden continued to heat up, drilling another triple out of the break before the Zips scored on two straight possessions to retake the lead 13-11. Watson then got going, finding Ogden for a three on the wing and then stopped and popped for a pull up jumper to give the Bulls a 18-17 lead at the end of the first.
The Bulls clamped down on defense, holding the Zips without a field goal for the opening three minutes of play as they maintained a 20-17 lead at the 7:10 mark. Buffalo then got into attack mode as Lewis-Williams and Watson drove to the basket for layups and then Elhusseini hit Watson for a transition layup to put UB up 26-21 at the 3:38 mark. Neither team would score over the next two minutes before Akron broke the scoring drought with a three, but the Bulls had an answer as Watson hit a floater in the lane and then found Lewis-Williams who laid it in off glass to beat the buzzer and give the Bulls a 30-24 lead at the half.
It was an offensive struggle for both teams as neither team scored for the first four minutes of the third quarter before Watson put the ball on her hip and got a layup plus the foul and then got to the rim again a few possessions later to give the Bulls a 34-26 lead at the media timeout. The Zips cut the lead to five at the four-minute mark before Watson hit Rana for a driving layup and Ogden came up with a steal and found Watson for the fastbreak layup to put UB up 40-32 and force an Akron timeout at the 2:01 mark. The Bulls continued to turn defense into offense as Elhusseini came up with the steal, threw it to Ogden who found Davis on the block for a beautiful fastbreak layup to extend the lead, but the Zips scored in the final seconds to cut the lead to 43-36 at the end of the third.
The Bulls used good ball movement early in the fourth quarter as Ogden and Davis executed a high low action to perfection for a layup and then Elhusseini drove baseline and kicked to Watson in the corner for three to put Buffalo up by seven. Buffalo then took their largest lead of the game, 51-41, on fastbreak jumper by Watson at the 5:58 mark. The Zips got aggressive on the glass and got to the free throw line, trimming the UB lead all the way down to one on a three-pointer with 14 seconds to go but the Elhusseini converted a free throw and then got a big defensive stop in the final seconds to secure the victory.
Buffalo dominated the paint, outscoring the Zips 34-22 inside, and also got out an ran effectively as UB scored 15 fastbreak points while adding 11 points off Akron turnovers.
Up next, Buffalo heads back out on the road as they travel to DeKalb to take on the Northern Illinois Huskies on Wednesday, January 17 at 7pm (EST).
The Bulls were once again led offensively by redshirt senior guard Chellia Watson who scored a game-high 28 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists. Sophomore Hattie Ogden recorded nine points and six rebounds while freshman Alexis Davis added nine points and freshman Kirsten Lewis-Williams pulled down a team-high nine rebounds.
The Zips hit back-to-back threes to start the game, but the Bulls answered with an 8-0 run, capped by threes from Rana Elhusseini and Ogden, to take their first lead of the game just shy of the media timeout. Ogden continued to heat up, drilling another triple out of the break before the Zips scored on two straight possessions to retake the lead 13-11. Watson then got going, finding Ogden for a three on the wing and then stopped and popped for a pull up jumper to give the Bulls a 18-17 lead at the end of the first.
The Bulls clamped down on defense, holding the Zips without a field goal for the opening three minutes of play as they maintained a 20-17 lead at the 7:10 mark. Buffalo then got into attack mode as Lewis-Williams and Watson drove to the basket for layups and then Elhusseini hit Watson for a transition layup to put UB up 26-21 at the 3:38 mark. Neither team would score over the next two minutes before Akron broke the scoring drought with a three, but the Bulls had an answer as Watson hit a floater in the lane and then found Lewis-Williams who laid it in off glass to beat the buzzer and give the Bulls a 30-24 lead at the half.
It was an offensive struggle for both teams as neither team scored for the first four minutes of the third quarter before Watson put the ball on her hip and got a layup plus the foul and then got to the rim again a few possessions later to give the Bulls a 34-26 lead at the media timeout. The Zips cut the lead to five at the four-minute mark before Watson hit Rana for a driving layup and Ogden came up with a steal and found Watson for the fastbreak layup to put UB up 40-32 and force an Akron timeout at the 2:01 mark. The Bulls continued to turn defense into offense as Elhusseini came up with the steal, threw it to Ogden who found Davis on the block for a beautiful fastbreak layup to extend the lead, but the Zips scored in the final seconds to cut the lead to 43-36 at the end of the third.
The Bulls used good ball movement early in the fourth quarter as Ogden and Davis executed a high low action to perfection for a layup and then Elhusseini drove baseline and kicked to Watson in the corner for three to put Buffalo up by seven. Buffalo then took their largest lead of the game, 51-41, on fastbreak jumper by Watson at the 5:58 mark. The Zips got aggressive on the glass and got to the free throw line, trimming the UB lead all the way down to one on a three-pointer with 14 seconds to go but the Elhusseini converted a free throw and then got a big defensive stop in the final seconds to secure the victory.
Buffalo dominated the paint, outscoring the Zips 34-22 inside, and also got out an ran effectively as UB scored 15 fastbreak points while adding 11 points off Akron turnovers.
Up next, Buffalo heads back out on the road as they travel to DeKalb to take on the Northern Illinois Huskies on Wednesday, January 17 at 7pm (EST).
Team Stats
UA
UB
FG%
.345
.404
3FG%
.269
.263
FT%
.833
.615
RB
41
37
TO
19
15
STL
5
14
Game Leaders
Pts
28
FGM
11
3FGM
1
FTM
5
Pts
9
FGM
3
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
6
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's BasketballG
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's BasketballG/F
/ Women's BasketballGuard
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