Bulls Soar to 77-51 Win Over Niagara

Wednesday, December 3

Buffalo, NY

6:00pm

University at Buffalo

2-6,0-0MAC

Niagara

0-8,0-0MAAC

Niagara

Buffalo

Photo by: Paul Hokanson/UB Athletics

Bulls Soar to 77-51 Win Over Niagara

12/3/2025 9:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo women's basketball team led for all but one minute, turning in a dominant performance on both ends of the floor in a 77-51 win over Niagara at Alumni Arena on Wednesday night.

Redshirt freshman guard Aniya Rowe had an impressive night as she stuffed the stat sheet with a career-high 18 points, including a perfect four-of-four from beyond the arc, to go with eight rebounds and six steals. Junior guard Paula Lopez scored in double figures for the sixth time this season with 12 points to go with five assists and freshman Deana Thompson also scored in double figures with 11 points. Fellow freshman Meg Lucas narrowly missed out on a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.

The Bulls turned defense into offense early as they rattled off a 10-2 run capped by a pair of steal and scores from Thompson and Rowe and a block from Lopez that led to a fastbreak layup to force a Niagara timeout at the 4:39 mark. Lucas converted on a second chance jumper out of the break and later, Lopez hit Rowe for a fastbreak triple before knocking down a runner of her own in the lane to give UB a 19-8 lead at the end of the first.

Janyah Bohanon and Anaya Coleman scored on back-to-back possessions to open the second quarter and then later, Amber Howard skied up for an offensive rebound and kicked it out to Rowe for a deep triple on the wing and then Rowe went into attack mode again, taking it coast-to-coast for a layup to put UB up 31-19 at the media timeout. Buffalo would extend their run to 12 as Bohanon got a second chance jumper to drop, Rowe drilled her third three of the half and Thompson added a triple of her own to give the Bulls a 20-point lead at the half.

Niagara opened the third quarter on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 15 and force a UB timeout. The teams then traded defensive stops before Thompson turned the corner and sliced to the basket for a layup off glass to put UB up 47-30 at the media timeout. The Bulls extended the run to 10 as Rowe drilled a triple on the wing and then she and Lucas converted steal and scores to force another Niagara timeout and UB would lead 61-39 at the end of the third.

After a slow start to the fourth for both teams, freshman Ella Corry gave the Bulls a spark as she recorded a pair of steals and got to the free throw line and then grabbed a rebound and hit Lopez for a corner triple to put UB up by 24 with two and a half minutes remaining. Later, Corry found Liza Field for a baseline jumper and then Coleman hit her for a fastbreak layup as she finished with a career-six points.

Buffalo had tremendous balance offensively as all 12 players who entered the game scored. The Bulls dominated the glass, recording a season-best 55 rebounds, including a season-best 26 offensive rebounds and dominated the paint, winning the battle inside 40-14. UB turned defense into offense as they forced 32 Niagara turnovers and capitalized, scoring 33 points off those miscues while recording a season-high 31 fastbreak points.

"We had a game plan coming in and they knew we needed to attack Niagara's pressure with poise, and we'll go back and watch the film and learn from it, but I'm really proud of their effort," said head coach Kristen Sharkey. "I think we have a really special group and once that lightbulb goes off, we're going to be a pretty scary team."

Up next, Buffalo will travel to the Southern Tier for a clash with the Binghamton Bearcats on Saturday, December 6 at 2pm.

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